Falling Stars
by SereneBird
Summary: Facing his first year in Jade Mountain Academy, Robin knows that he has to go through with it or disappoint his aunt and himself. He expected learning and meeting new dragons, but he never really expected to get caught up in a scheme that was years in the making. Now knowing that lives are in danger, it's up to him and his possible newfound friends to save them. [Rewrite/Reupload]
1. Prologue

**A/N: Here it is! I finally uploaded the rewrite for Falling Stars! If some of you remember, I took down the original due to feeling as if the original's writing wasn't quite satisfying enough, and I think that I'm happier with this version instead. I'll continue to get down the next few chapters of this then I'll get back as soon as possible to writing the next chapter for Artificial.**

 **Anyway...here's a warning for alcohol for people who feel uncomfortable with it.**

* * *

" _Well, I'll be going now," said the deep red SkyWing. She looked down lovingly at her son with a gentle smile. "Don't worry, dear. I'll be back soon."_

One hour.

Four days.

Seven weeks.

To Falcon, time only passed and passed without regard for the dragons trapped within its cycle. Knowing that it was just going to go on and on and on without telling when it will eventually stop…

It was maddening.

 _Where is she? Robin's crying again. Three moons, he tripped. Hey, little guy—OW!_

Robin just bit her. Throbbing pain seared in her bitten talon as she held it, hissing. "Okay, that's it," she muttered, looking down at the tiny dragonet. Robin stared back up at her with wide, unblinking emerald eyes that were wet with tears.

Falcon picked up the small dark red dragonet, glaring back at his eyes. She ignored the shivers that his dark green gaze gave her and then she looked away from him, going to carry him up to the room that she had to empty out just to use as _his_ room.

 _His eyes are weird._

SkyWings weren't supposed to have green eyes. No, they were supposed to have eyes that were yellow, amber, copper, or orange. They certainly shouldn't have _green_ eyes. But Robin did, and there was just _something_ in those eyes of his that she couldn't shake off.

 _Never mind,_ Falcon thought to herself. It really shouldn't matter anyway, right? Eyes were just eyes.

But still…

* * *

Three hours.

Six days.

Nine weeks.

Finch and Zephyr still hadn't returned, and at this point Robin was crying for his parents. He didn't care about where they were or what they were doing. He just wanted them back with him.

Falcon tried the best that she could to calm him down, but all of her efforts ended in failure. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have the motherly instinct that Finch had. In fact, she didn't have _anything_ that Finch had.

She wasn't as smart as Finch, and she certainly didn't have the same kind of kindness and honesty that her sister possessed. She was _nothing_ like her sister. And great goose feces, did she hate herself for it.

Falcon wished that her sister was here with her. She wished that her sister never left. She wished that Finch was still here and that they were joking again and that they were smiling and laughing and doing everything that they used to do when they were younger.

This was so _frustrating_. She hated everything about this. If her sister never left, then she wouldn't be here dealing with all of _this_ right now.

She felt a sharp, burning pain in her chest. Her heart felt as if it was going to burst out of her chest at any moment. Her eyes felt moist. Everything that she just _felt_ was painful and they hurt so much.

She wasn't going to get rid of these feelings anytime soon, was she?

* * *

Five hours.

Eight days.

Two months.

Two months since Finch and Zephyr's disappearance. Two months since Falcon's problems had started. _Robin needs this. Now he wants_ that _. Alright, alright, I'm getting there, just wait._

Not that Robin was a problem, of course. Falcon couldn't bring herself to hate the small dragonet. She didn't try to, either. She knew that it wasn't his fault that his parents were gone. It wasn't his fault and it was never going to be.

Instead, Falcon found something else to do instead of blame such a tiny dragon for her problems. Nowadays, Falcon would drown away all of her sorrows with a swig of alcohol.

She didn't really mean to get that into it at first. She only meant to take a simple sip and then just forget about ever drinking it. And obviously, that didn't happen. Now it was just so difficult for her to be able to quit.

As she continued on with her daily business, thoughts came to her, ranging from _Maybe I should've pushed harder to find out what she was doing_ to _Where are they? Are they going to come back soon?_

Then she closed her eyes and remembered what Finch said to her about what she and her husband were doing.

 _"Why?" Falcon had asked. "I mean, I'm flattered you would trust me with your dragonet, but where are you and Zephyr going?"_

 _"You don't need to know," Finch responded impatiently. "Zephyr and I are just going to go somewhere for a time. I promise that we won't take long. We'll be back by morning," she promised._

 _Falcon narrowed her eyes at her. She knew that Finch was one of the most trustworthy dragons she's ever known, but she also knew that her sister also probably wouldn't be back by morning like she said she was. She understood it would all depend on what happened to her and Zephyr during their little trip._

 _In fact, she was almost sure that her sister had to do something for Queen Nimbus. Finch had a close position to the SkyWing queen and ever since landing a place at the palace, Falcon saw her less and less. Whenever she would write a letter to her asking her if she could come visit, Finch would respond by sending a letter that said that the queen's plans didn't allow her to do that._

 _Which was why she probably should try to keep asking her questions._ But then again, _she thought irritably,_ she isn't known for giving in easily. _And that was true. Finch really didn't surrender so easily, not even to her older sister._

* * *

Two years.

At this point, Falcon no longer saw why she needed to keep track of every single detail of why she needed to keep the time. Finch and Zephyr were already as late enough as they were and if they came back now, then Falcon certainly had a few words to say to them.

 _So much for coming back by morning,_ Falcon would think to herself. It felt as if a bitter taste on her tongue was left every time she had to talk about Finch.

And of course, this happened often considering the fact that Robin was curious about his parents and their fates. Falcon felt bad for not being able to provide him many answers about what happened to his parents and never being quite in the right mood whenever he asked about what they were like.

She knew that he was only wondering about Zephyr and Finch and she only wished that she would be able to tell him more about them without trying to get the conversation over with as fast as possible. But since that wish didn't seem to be coming true anytime soon, she decided that she'll distract him by spending time with him.

Falcon quickly learned that he loved to listen to and read stories about heroes and the magnificent deeds that they had done. He seemed especially interested in the characters with their gaudy, billowing capes. In Falcon's opinion, the capes were stupid. They were unnecessary and she was pretty sure that a dragon without a cape was a more graceful one.

But she couldn't bring herself to tell that to Robin to his face. He seemed to get so excited at the idea of wearing capes and she was almost certain that they became some kind of heroic symbol to him.

So Falcon let him keep his love for capes. She knew that he might need something to love and to give him hope anyway, considering the fact that he didn't have many friends. Even after two years, he was rather...awkward. She remembered once when she encouraged him to go interact with a group of nearby dragonets and it didn't end up well.

From what she's seen, Robin doesn't really seem to pick up on social cues, figurative language, or sarcasm all that well.

And she certainly can't quite forget the time that Robin called her old and kind of unattractive right to her face. His honesty coUld be quite...off-putting.

But every time that she sees his enthusiasm whenever he reads his favorite scroll about his favorite superhero, she couldn't help but smile at him.

She knew he was destined to do something great one day.


	2. Chapter One

"Don't you think that this is...I don't know...a bad idea?" Robin asked Aunt Falcon as he stared around at the other dragonets. He pulled his cape tighter around himself. It felt as if vicious claws were twisting around his guts as he saw just how many other dragonets there were. "Because this seems like a _really_ bad idea to me. In fact, really, really, _really_ bad."

He hardly ever had to be around so many dragons before aside from going to his old school, which now seemed like a small ant compared to the size of Jade Mountain Academy. And even then, having to partake in the social activities _there_ seemed to quickly drain Robin's energy. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like here in this school, especially since he'll be around so many dragons from other tribes.

Where he came from, getting the chance to go to Jade Mountain Academy was an honor considering the dragons who built it: the famous Dragonets of Destiny, who lived several generations ago.

Robin remembered reading stories about them and admiring their bravery. He couldn't name many other _real_ dragons who were able to stop a war in the same way they did. He wished that one day he would get to do something just as great as they did and he would get to fulfill his dreams of being just like the heroes that he would read about in the scrolls.

But here, those dreams seemed so far away. The voices of many dragons assaulted him from every side and he resisted the urge to cover his ears just to stop hearing them and fall into a blissful silence.

It also felt just _unnatural_ to be seeing so many shades of blue, green, black, and yellow on these dragons. Of course, being surrounded by the reds and oranges of the other SkyWings, drastically different scale colors were a little bit weird to him.

And now that he got to see it for himself on a RainWing, he was pretty sure that bright red, yellow, and aqua blue were an ugly color combination.

 _Plus, what about what happened to Commander Crimson?_ Robin asked himself, and he started to feel himself shake as he remembered the death of the SkyWing commander that happened less than a year ago. The death of such a beloved commander shocked the entirety of the Sky Kingdom, including Robin.

Robin always looked up to the commander before his unfortunate death and he remembered keeping himself in his room for days after learning about his demise. But it was arguably even more shocking to him to learn that the SandWings had been blamed for the commander's death, as Crimson's body was found close to the border of the Kingdom of Sand with evidence of being stabbed by a SandWing's barbed tail.

Nobody quite knew that Commander Crimson was doing all the way over there, but regardless of that the SkyWings still pinned the blame on the SandWings, who did everything in their power to deny it.

"Sure, to _you_ ," said Aunt Falcon, snapping him out of his thoughts. "But I'm sure that you'll be just fine."

"I'm going to be trampled," Robin said miserably.

"Hey, be grateful you're not one of the _shorter_ dragons around here," Aunt Falcon responded. "I hear that the younger IceWing princess is three times shorter than any other dragon her age, and she's only five."

Robin didn't quite believe that any dragon could be that short, but he supposed that he might as well take Aunt Falcon's word for it. It's at least comforting to know that he won't be the only dragon crushed beneath larger talons, and the thought seemed morbid and beautiful to him at the same time.

"But hey, if any of these dragons are giving you trouble, then feel free to write me. I promise that I'll be over in a second," Aunt Falcon told him.

He _also_ didn't quite believe that any dragon could be that fast, but the thought of it also helped ease his tension a little bit.

"Thanks," he said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to have you."

"I bet you'd be even happier to have your mother back," Aunt Falcon chuckled. Robin pricked his ears as he thought that he could detect a hint of bitterness in his aunt's voice.

Not that he was surprised, really. Aunt Falcon never really liked to talk that much about his mother or father. The best that he could ever get out of her were their names (Finch and Zephyr) and also that they dropped Robin off with her five years ago and they never came back.

He never knew much about them except for those two bits of information, as well as the possibility that they may already be dead by now. They were missing SkyWings for a long time now and according to Aunt Falcon, a few search parties had been sent out to see where they went, but no trace of them were ever uncovered.

But as ominous as that sounded, Robin shook off the thought. Thinking about his parents now wasn't going to help him.

"Anyway, I'm going to have to go now," Aunt Falcon said. The dark orange dragon lifted her neck and stared up at the sky, where escorts of the other dragonets were now flying off. "Remember to write a letter to me if you ever get in trouble!"

"I will!" Robin promised. "But I swear that I won't let anyone or anything hurt...me...oh…"

He faltered and watched as his aunt lifted into the sky, leaving him behind. "Well...bye, then."

The dark red dragonet let out a sigh and looked around at the other dragons around him. Scales of silver, brown, and other such colors moved around him and each other. It felt as if he was watching a swarm of bees. Except with dragons. Bee dragons?

The idea was somehow amusing and frightening at the same time, but mostly frightening. But he forced himself to stand up straight and walk through them. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Alright, you can see it now," he murmured to himself as he tried his best to weave through the crowd of dragons. "You won't let anyone push you around. In fact, you'll fight back if someone tried to fight you." Anxiety that once pounded in his chest started to ease with every step he took.

"Hey, watch it!" a MudWing barked at him as they bumped into each other.

And here comes the anxiety again.

"Sorry, sorry!" Robin yelped. He quickly moved away from him only to bump into a SeaWing.

"Move!" the SeaWing yelled.

"Three moons, I am _so_ sorry. Uuummm, I'll just move over h—"

"What do you think you're doing?!" an IceWing snapped at him after he backed right into her.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!" Robin cried, quickly turning around to face her. He paused as he saw her.

She was certainly...small. She looked to be around his age—five years—but her size indicated that she might as well have been three years old. It was clear that she stagnated somewhere during her growth.

Another thing that he noticed was that the IceWing was wearing some fancy accessories. She wore a silver necklace that looked like two separate silver bands attached to an oval-shaped sapphire and spiraling around her wrists and ankles were bracelet-like silver bands.

He remembered Aunt Falcon saying something about an undersized IceWing princess, and while she wasn't as short as she told him she would be, he was pretty sure that IceWings shouldn't be this small at five years old. And judging by her accessories, too…

"Um...you're Princess Eis of the IceWings…rrright?" Robin asked slowly. "I'm sorry, I just—well—it's just that you're wearing such _gaudy_ and _unnecessary_ accessories and you look as if you were shrunk down by an…" He trailed off as he noticed the glare she was giving him.

"Okay, first of all, yes, that's me! Princess Eis, the daughter of Queen Snowdust and King Sleet! Second of all, my accessories being 'unnecessary' _sure_ means _a lot_ coming from a dragon wearing a red blanket around his shoulders," the princess said, poking at his cape. "And third of all, I am _not_ short. I am just slightly behind in my growth."

And so it looked as if he was right! This _was_ the IceWing princess! Which may or may not be a bad thing for him because _wow_ , she looked kind of mad at him.

"Also, can't you _please_ be more aware of your surroundings?" Princess Eis demanded. "What are you? Blind? Can you even see where you're going? Or do you just don't _care_ about who you bump into?" she scowled.

"No! My eyes work perfectly! There's nothing wrong with them!" Robin cried. He didn't like it when dragons scolded him like this. "And I _do_ care! In fact, I care a lot about bumping into other dragons! I mean, I care a lot about _not_ bumping into other dragons!"

"Then watch where you're going!" the IceWing said, lashing her tail. Then she turned away and stomped off.

 _Oh boy,_ Robin thought, crestfallen as he watched her go. _That just about tells me what kind of day this will be._

* * *

 **A/N: There's chapter one! Thank you to the people who reviewed! And to the guest who asked about Gale x Robin, you might want to wait and see for yourself. :)**


	3. Chapter Two

Upon entering the academy through the entrance cave, Robin couldn't help but take a quick look around. Everything seemed rather normal...and pretty, too!

He had to admit that the school didn't look quite as bad as he thought it would. Usually when he thought of mountains, he thought about depressing stone walls that closed in tightly around you. But, much to his gratitude, this school didn't seem like that at all.

The light inside the academy was dim compared to the sunny light of outside, but the lit torches set up along the walls provided enough light for him to see. And thank the moons, there was _space_. Despite all of the different kinds of dragons crowding around him, it didn't feel as if he was too closed in.

All in all, the school actually looked to be a decent place.

The other dragonets were a different story, unfortunately.

They were certainly diverse, from the strongest looking MudWings to the most cheerful looking SeaWings. He supposed that he could appreciate seeing something different from the SkyWings that he usually saw around his home, but at the same time a lot of the dragons around him looked big and scary, too.

And, much to his displeasure, they weren't much quieter than how they were outside. They were still so _noisy_ and Robin just wanted to find a quiet place as soon as possible before his ears burst. He was surprised that they haven't already.

It didn't help that he could also spot some SkyWings that he recognized. He saw the deep orange scales of Canary and he could see Chaffinch around as well. Canary and Chaffinch didn't act like the friendliest dragons around. He still remembered that one time when they shoved him into a mud puddle.

Robin knew that the SkyWing princess was around here somewhere if he could spot her. Well...not that he'd ever met her before anyway.

 _Just try to avoid them,_ Robin told himself. _I just need to stand up for myself if one of them decides that it's a good idea to bully me. Maybe a good scratch to the ear would help? Or maybe across the snout?_

 _Or maybe just try not to get in a fight at all. That sounds like a better idea._

He let out a deep sigh and strode up to an adult SandWing. The SandWing's scales were a desert white color and he stared at Robin with obsidian black eyes. Robin shifted his talons slightly, eyeing the SandWing's curled-up barb, remembering that Commander Crimson could have been killed by one of those.

"Greetings," said the SandWing calmly to him. "I'm Roadrunner. And you are…?"

"Robin."

Roadrunner nodded and he began to rummage around for scrolls. Robin watched until the SandWing pulled out two scrolls and then handed both of them to him.

"Here's the map scroll and the welcome scroll," said Roadrunner as Robin unrolled one of them. Robin quickly closed the scroll back up. "Your cave is to the first tunnel to the right and the second cave to the left. You're in the Quartz Winglet."

The dark red dragonet nodded. "Um...thank you," he said. Roadrunner made a slight wave of his tail in response.

 _First tunnel to the right, then second cave to the left,_ Robin told himself as he swept into the tunnel to his right. He weaved through the sea of dragonets to get to his destination, saying "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" along the way.

As he did so, he could see other dragons entering their caves. There was a crowd of dragonets headed the same way he was going and a jolt of alarm coursed through him as he realized that Princess Eis was headed in the same direction that he was going, accompanied by another IceWing with a deep blue hint to his white scales.

Robin quickened his pace and turned left, striding right into the second cave.

 _Did she follow me? Are we sharing the same cave?_ Robin wondered. He peered out of his cave to take a quick look at Eis and her escort.

"Are you _sure_ that you'll be alright?" the IceWing asked her. "Perhaps it would be best if we wrote a letter back home to the queen and king. You never know who to trust in a school like this."

Robin blinked at the IceWing with Eis. His black eyes seemed to have an amused glint to them and he started to wonder if this IceWing was being serious with what he said.

"Of _course_ I will," Eis huffed in response. She turned around to glare at the IceWing. "North, you may be my bodyguard, but I will _not_ have some eggbrain following me around. And if you're just saying that because of my height, then I can report you for disrespect."

"Oh _no_ ," North said and his eyes rounded innocently. " _Anything_ but _that_."

Eis narrowed her eyes at him. "You know what? I'm not even going to deal with you right now. Just head on to your cave," she said. She let out a _hmph_ and turned back around, heading down the mountainous corridor and turning to the left cave at the very end of the tunnel while North went to the one that was at the opposite side.

Robin stared before he took a look around his own cave. He noticed that there were empty scroll racks next to the entrance along with some sleeping spots, one of which included a rock ledge. The space was wide and open enough to fit at least three adult dragons inside and there were blazing torches mounted on the wall.

He looked down at his two scrolls and slid the welcome scroll into one of the empty racks. Robin then took the map and leapt onto the rock ledge. He opened up the map and started to observe it.

His emerald green eyes soon landed on the location of the library. The library caught his interest immediately. He had been hoping that there would be one at this school, and he was also certainly hoping that they would have some scrolls in the adventure genre in there. He wished that reading anything on some heroic dragons would help alleviate his tension, even by just a little bit.

Then he looked over to where the prey center was. As he scanned the paths to take to get there, he made sure that he looked at it really closely in order to remember it. Robin cringed as he thought about himself stumbling around the hallways of the academy, asking for help all while his stomach was killing him.

"Hellooo? Is this the right cave?"

Robin closed the map and put it to the side. He snapped his head up to look at whoever just spoke. He saw a SandWing at the entrance of the cave and he quickly took in her appearance.

This stockily-built SandWing seemed to be about seven years old and her scales were a color of pale gold. Her eyes were pitch black but somehow there seemed to be a kind of warm light in them. Freckles dotted her snout and a bright orange bandana hung around her neck. There was also a scar going down her shoulder.

What really caught his interest, however, was that she seemed to have a unique black marking on both sides of her face. It looked like smoke curling inward and out, forming multiple curves and hooks before they stopped below her eyes. He wondered if that was a tattoo or if it was something that he was born with. He heard of dragons who were born with rather unusual physical traits.

"Uuuhh...that depends. W-Which cave were...uh...were you looking for?" asked Robin. _Please don't mess up,_ he pleaded with himself. _Don't say something stupid. Just don't embarrass yourself on the first day of school, even if it's just in front of_ one _dragon._

"First tunnel at my right then the second cave at the left," she answered. "Right? I'm not crazy or anything, am I?"

Robin's mouth curled into a smile. "Yup! You're in the right cave!"

"Oh, thank the moons," the SandWing said. She took both of her scrolls and slid them into an empty space in the closest scroll rack. "I would be soooo embarrassed if I got the wrong cave! Name's Yerba, by the way."

"Hi, Yerba," Robin replied, and he gave her a small wave. The smile fell from his face. What should he do now? Did she also expect him to give his name to her? Well...he guessed that it would be kind of wrong if he didn't give her his name in response.

"I'm Robin," he said. He flicked his tail. "But not robbing robin'. I mean _Robin_. As in the _bird_ , not the action. I promise that I'm not here to steal your jewerly! Nope! I'm all clean!"

Yerba chuckled. "Nice to meet you," she said, and she grinned widely at him. Robin felt oddly comforted by her smile.

"It's nice to meet you, too. Um...I guess," Robin responded. He moved his gaze down to his talons. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing. You actually seem really, er, nice so far."

Yerba snorted. "So what are you here for?" she queried.

"Huh?"

"What are you planning to accomplish here? Oh, and don't mind the random questions," Yerba said. "My mom told me that I might as well make new friends here, so I thought, 'Hey, why not start with asking all these questions?'"

"Oh," said Robin. He forced himself to meet her gaze again. "Well...um...my aunt told me that I should come here. And I was hoping that I'd get to make friends here. Maybe four, but eight would be really great." It felt odd to share things with a stranger like Yerba, but wouldn't it be rude if he didn't answer her questions?

Now that he thought about it, he was actually quite glad that Yerba was there to initiate the conversation instead of letting him try to come up with something to talk about.

"Well, you're in luck!" Yerba suddenly shouted with gleaming eyes. "I'm going to make one out of your new friends!"

Robin's eyes rounded. "Really?" he questioned. Was she joking?

"Yeah! I'm not lying. I'm a very trustworthy dragon," she promised.

 _Trustworthy was what my aunt used to call my mom._ He shook that thought away. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Like, are you really, really sure?"

"Hey, you're here to make friends, and I'm here to make friends, so why not?" Yerba said. She raised a brow at him. "Might as well start with each other, don't you think?"

"Yeah...start with each other. That's a good idea," he replied. He didn't see any reason why he shouldn't be Yerba's friend. She seemed really nice, especially compared to Eis.

Speaking of Eis, he had to wonder which winglet she was in. He felt a wave of guilt as he realized that he had been hoping that she wouldn't be in his winglet since he barely knew her.

"Anyway, do you want to go check out the prey center?" Yerba asked, and he was snapped out of his thoughts. "I want to see it. Maybe go get something to eat, too. But y'know, if you want to go check out somewhere else, then I wouldn't mind it. We have today as an exploring day, after all."

"Oh, er, sure, let's go to the prey center," Robin answered.

"Great!" Yerba cheered. "Then let's go!" And before Robin knew it, she zoomed right out of the cave.

"W-Wait for meeeeee!" Robin called after her. He jumped onto his feet and chased after her. He felt his tail knock over the map as he ran after her, but that was the least of his worries for now.

* * *

Robin's first instinct upon entering the prey center was to run.

Every part of his brain was screaming _Run away! There's too many dragons! They'll crush you!_ while every muscle in his body said _No! Remember what Aunt Falcon wants! She wants you to socialize and make friends and that is exactly what you'll do!_

 _No, she wants you to be safe! That's a completely different thing!_ his brain seemed to yell back.

The prey center was huge and was open to the sky on one side. He saw a river lining the wall across from the opening that disappeared from sight as it turned through an archway, and there was a pile of freshly-killed prey in the center of the room, though he could barely see it through the constantly moving wall of scales.

Robin hesitated and he stared at the mass of dragons ahead of him. Since his ears weren't destroyed by the noise earlier, he would be surprised if this wasn't the moment where they finally burst. Dragons shouted and called to one another and their talons pounded across the floor.

In the next split second he made up his mind and he started to turn away from the prey center.

"Oh, no you don't!" Yerba said and she grabbed him. "You're coming with me!"

And before he could protest, the SandWing started to drag him into the crowd. Robin's claws scrabbled at the ground before he let out a groan and let her take him.

"Aaaaand get up!" Yerba said. Her grip loosened on him and he rose onto his feet.

 _Alright, you'll be okay,_ he told himself. _Nothing's going to hurt you._ He forced himself to stare ahead at the large crowd of dragons. _Maybe they're all too busy with each other to notice you. And besides, you're brave._ He slightly lifted his head.

 _Yeah, that's right! You don't feel fear._

 _You have the greatest aunt in the world who will protect you if you tell her that someone wanted to hurt you!_

 _You have dreams!_

 _You have the courage! You have…_

Robin gulped as he saw just how many dragons there were in the crowd.

 _...no idea what to do._

He followed close behind Yerba as she walked through the crowd. "Oh, hello!" Yerba said cheerfully to a dark pink RainWing, who nodded back in acknowledgement. "Hey, good to see you!" she said to a passing IceWing.

Robin shrunk a little bit lower, but tried not to sink so low that he's basically just crawling across the ground. What would that look like?

He watched as Yerba cheerfully greeted other dragonets as if it was no problem. How was she able to do that? She made it look so _easy_.

"Hold on!" Yerba said and she came to an abrupt stop. Robin bumped into her and stumbled back. He craned his neck to look up at Yerba and noticed that she was looking somewhere. He lowered his neck and followed her gaze to a NightWing who was sitting by himself. He looked rather skinny and he wore a black ribbon around his upper forearm. His midnight black scales had a dark blue tinge to them, too. Right now he had a goat in his talons.

"He's all by himself," Yerba pointed out. "We should try talking to him. Who knows? He might be kinda friendly."

Robin observed the NightWing's face and he detected a quiet, reserved kind of air radiating from this dragon. "I don't think he wants to talk to anyone," he commented.

"I know!" Yerba said. "It's going to be a good challenge, isn't it?" she asked.

He wasn't sure what she had on her mind, but regardless of that, it seemed as if she was going to go talk to the NightWing anyway. He trailed behind Yerba as she started to approach the NightWing.

"Helloo!" the SandWing cheerfully greeted the NightWing. He looked up at her from the goat he was eating and Robin felt nervous when he looked at his eyes.

"Yes?" the NightWing asked. He tilted his head to the side as he regarded them with interest. "Was there something that you wanted from me?"

"Oh, no," Yerba responded. She smiled at him. "I've just noticed that you were all by yourself and I decided that I might come and join you since you're so lonely."

"I'm... _fine_ by myself," the NightWing said. The NightWing's eyes slightly narrowed and Robin felt a familiar twist in his stomach. He was beginning to grow even more nervous. He sincerely didn't want to embarrass himself in front of him, and if he did that, then there's a chance that the entirety of the prey center might notice too and they would laugh at him.

"W-Well," Robin started, "surely no one has to be alone on their own! Oh...that rhymed! Heh...I think. I hope! Um...I'm Robin! And my friend here is Yerba!"

"So, what's your name?" Yerba asked the NightWing.

He frowned. "Stormseeker," he introduced himself.

"Oh, Stormseeker! What a neat name!" Yerba said.

"Yeah…," said Stormseeker awkwardly. He looked away from them and put his attention back onto his goat. "Yours too." He took another bite out of his meal.

"Er, thanks," Robin said. Now he wanted to get out of the conversation as soon as he could. "My parents chose it for me."

"So did mine," Stormseeker pointed out.

"Um...well, it's a very nice name," Robin said. He looked at Yerba to watch for a reaction and he saw the smile drop from her face. Not that he could blame her. He was also starting to feel as if they couldn't hold a conversation with this NightWing.

"Sure, thanks," Stormseeker replied. He didn't even look at them.

Yerba sighed and leaned in close to Robin's ear. "We'll get him next time," she whispered to him. Robin doubted that, but he had to admit to himself that he did want to believe her. There was something that was quite intriguing about Stormseeker that made Robin want to get to know him more.

Then the female SandWing looked back to Stormseeker and smiled again. "It was nice talking to you! See you later!" she said, then she turned away and headed off. Robin quickly followed behind her.

"Well, I don't think that it turned out that bad," Yerba said. Her barbed tail flicked once. "He's kind of hard to figure out except that he likes to stick to himself more." She looked down at her talons with a thoughtful look on her face and Robin watched her.

"Whoops! 'Scuse me—AH!"

"WHOA!"

Robin suddenly stumbled forward and fell flat on his face as he felt someone step on the back of his cape. He raised his head and turned around to look at who did that.

Next to Yerba was a dark green SeaWing with blue eyes clumsily scrambling onto his feet. "I'm sorry!" the SeaWing said as Yerba headed over to Robin's side and helped him up. "I'm really, really, really sorry!"

"I'm just—I'm just a very, very clumsy dragon," the SeaWing went on. "T-This usually happens, but I'm trying to, y'know, tone it down a bit. I really didn't mean to step on your cape and trip you, I mean—"

"Hey, hey, it's fine!" Yerba interjected. She looked at Robin. "Um...is it?"

"Oh, yeah, it is!" Robin quickly replied. After all, it wasn't the first time that he tripped due to his cape. True, he should probably stop wearing it, but he was determined to keep it on no matter what happened.

The SeaWing let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said. "I promise that I'm just trying to make my way around."

"No, no, it's fine," Robin said. He felt a bit of sympathy for the SeaWing since he understood what he was going through right now. At least now he knew that he wasn't the _only_ dragon having trouble trying to get around the school.

Robin and Yerba stepped to opposite sides to let the dark green dragonet through. The SeaWing passed through them and then disappeared as he stepped out of the prey center.

"So, do you want to go check out the library now?" Yerba asked as she stared toward the exit.

"Sure!" Robin answered. A wide smile spread across his face and his talons began to tingle. "I _love_ libraries!"

"Alright!" Yerba said. "Let's go, then!"


	4. Chapter Three

"Alright, so if we take a left here, and then a right there…," Robin mumbled as he tried to find his way to the library. He was thankful that it was quieter within the hallways of the academy since most of the other dragonets were busy in the prey center. Compared to there, the hallways were like a serene and quiet sanctuary from noise.

Dragons passed by them as they made their way toward their destination and the whispers pairs and groups of dragonets reached his ears, but none were too loud. Yerba followed behind him and she suddenly stepped on his tail. Robin let out a yelp and turned to face her. "Ow! What was that for?" he whined.

"Sorry, sorry," Yerba said quickly. "But don't you think that maybe we should ask someone for directions? A few dragons are passing us by the minute and, well, you know...if you did forget where the library was then we could just ask them! Sure, maybe we should've brought our maps along with us, but it's too late for that now, huh?"

Robin blinked at her before looking down. He had hoped that he would remember where the library would be, but then again, Yerba did have a point. He really didn't know where it would be located. He scratched once at the ground, but he nodded. "Okay," he answered.

"Great!" the SandWing said. Robin looked back up at her and just then, another SkyWing entered the hallway close to them.

But as soon as Robin saw her, he felt as if something had just plummeted into his stomach. The SkyWing wore a golden necklace around her neck and her ears were decorated with silver earrings embedded with rubies. Her scales were a dark shade of gold and her eyes were rich amber.

At once he recognized this dragon as Princess Corona.

Now he knew that the princess was going to be in the school. The news spread like wildfire around the Sky Kingdom, which excited certain dragonets and brought tension to the rest. Robin was part of 'the rest.'

He never met Princess Corona nor did he ever see her aside from what he saw in the scrolls, but since she was a princess he had to try his best not to embarrass himself in front of her. He couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't make a fool out of himself.

"Hey!" Yerba called to the princess.

Corona stopped and turned her head toward her. "Yes? Was there anything that you needed from me?" she asked curiously, and her head tilted to the side.

"Yeah. I was wondering if you knew where the library was?" Yerba questioned. She gestured to Robin with her tail. "My friend and I want to head over there and we kinda need some directions. If you're kind enough to provide them, of course."

"Oh, of course!" Corona said. A smile split her face as she pointed past Yerba and Robin. "Continue down here and then take the path to your left. Then take a right from there and keep going the way you are. Then you'll reach the library."

Yerba nodded. "Thanks, buddy!" she said. "Wait. Am I allowed to call you buddy? Would you be okay with something like 'chum' or 'pal' instead?"

It occurred to Robin that Yerba probably didn't know who Princess Corona was. Or she at least heard of her but had no idea what she looked like.

"Well...really my name is Corona. Princess Corona, actually. But yes, 'buddy' sounds just fine!" the SkyWing replied. Her voice sounded cheerful and lighthearted in contrast to the choleric and haughty tone of Eis' voice.

"Ohhh, a princess! I see!" Yerba said. "Welp, time for us to go. See you later!" she said. Then she turned and swept past Robin as Corona uttered a farewell, and Robin followed after the SandWing.

He already had the idea that Yerba was a confident dragon, but he was just astonished at how little fear she seemed to possess. He soon found that he wished that he had her kind of confidence. Surely then talking to other dragons would be so much easier than it had been for him.

Every time he tried to talk to other dragonets in the past, it never turned out the way that he wanted it to. Everyone seemed to move differently all in a way that he just struggled to keep up with. So many of them said things that they didn't really mean and at at some point he realized that there seemed to be unspoken laws for them.

Most of the time it differed from one dragon to another and sometimes changed whenever they would converse. Nonetheless, no one quite explained whatever these laws were to him and instead left him to find out for himself.

"I think we're close!" Yerba cheered as they reached the library. At first all Robin saw was a side corridor with hanging scrolls with quotes on them, but then they soon reached a wide room. Green-tinted sunlight was present in the area and scrolls were all around in cubbyholes, racks, and cylinders arranged around the room.

Robin also spotted carpets, a few moss piles, and rock ledges and in the center of the room was a circular wooden desk, occupied by a dark blue SeaWing. "Wow," Robin breathed. His tail started to shake. There were so many scrolls here! He had to check all of them out!

"Hello there! My name is Dovekie. Are you looking for something in particular?" asked the SeaWing at the desk.

"Oh, um…" Robin said. "Do you have the Scorched Scales series anywhere around here?" he asked curiously. Please say yes, he thought hopefully. That was one of his favorite series. He had the entire first arc memorized by now and he was halfway through with the second arc.

"As a matter of fact, we do have the first arc here," Dovekie answered. She turned her head to look at the wall of scrolls opposite of Robin and pointed to a certain section. "Head over there and take a look. The series should be located at the center portion."

"Thanks!" Robin said, and then he zipped toward it.

"Wow, you're quite energetic. I guess you must really love that series," Yerba answered as she made her way to his side. Robin made no response and just pulled out the first scroll in the cubbyhole and pushed it toward her. "Hey, sheesh!" Yerba said. "It's like you're trying to knock me over!"

"Can you read it?" Robin asked her.

Yerba blinked. "Huh?"

"Pleease can you read it?" he asked again. "I promise that it's super good! Like, really good!" His tail quivered and shook as he peered at Yerba with wide eyes.

"Hmm...alright," Yerba smiled. She took the scroll into her talon. "I'll be sure to read it, I promise. For now, let's go check out what else we can read!"

The rest of the day went without much incident. After looking around the library a little bit more, they managed to pick out a few of them to check out to Dovekie. They were even given little stamps and pouches to hold them in.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the school and finding out which rooms their classes would take place in. By the time the sun set, Robin and Yerba both agreed that it was time to head back to their cave.

And when they reached their cave, they met the rest of their clawmates, which included a familiar dark green SeaWing and Stormseeker.

"Hey, you were that SeaWing I met earlier! The clumsy one who tripped on my cape!" Robin said as soon as he saw the SeaWing. Yerba raised a brow at him and Robin wondered if he said something wrong.

An unnatural smile spread across the SeaWing's face. "Eeeeyup, that's me, heh heh," he said. "My name's Dolphin! And uh...did you meet Stormseeker? I mean, I guess I already introduced him to you."

"Nah, don't worry, we met him," Yerba said. She smiled at Stormseeker who only frowned at her in response. Robin felt discouraged to see that Stormseeker seemed to be as eager to talk as he did earlier back in the prey center.

"Um...so who do you think the rest of the dragonets in our winglet could be?" asked Robin. He hoped to probably start some conversation with the other dragonets, and who knows? Maybe one of them had the answer as to who the IceWing, RainWing, and MudWing of their winglet could be.

Stormseeker shrugged. "Whoever they are, they're still going to be our wingmates for the rest of the year. So let's hope that they're friendly," Stormseeker responded in a flat voice.

"Of course they're going to be friendly!" Dolphin scoffed. He grinned and then shone some of his stripes. Robin stared at his glowing stripes and his tail started to shake and swish from side to side ever so slightly. Robin never saw a SeaWing's glow-in-the-dark markings in action before, but now that he did he had to admit that it was actually kind of captivating.

"You seem to be a really optimistic dragon," Stormseeker remarked.

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth," Dolphin said. His glowing scales dimmed until they no longer gave off any light. "After all, who can possibly resist this?" He raised one of his wings confidently.

"I can," Yerba answered.

Dolphin lowered his wing. "Hey, you don't even know me that well yet!" he said. "Trust me, by the end of the year, you're going to learn that I'm funny, only slightly below average, and that I have crippling low self-esteem." He paused before giving a nervous chuckle. "Don't take that seriously, okay? I promise that I am funny, though."

Before Robin could say anything, Stormseeker spoke up again. "Let's just go get some sleep now, okay?" he suggested. "We really need to get moving tomorrow. We have the rest of our winglet to meet after all."

"Oh, yeah. That sounds like a good idea," Robin said. After what felt like a long day he supposed that he really did want to go to sleep. It could give him some time to collect his thoughts, too. He never felt more nervous in his entire life.

Then the dark red SkyWing went up on the rock ledge and curled up on it. He wrapped his cape around himself as he did so. He heard his clawmates also getting ready to head off to sleep and while they were doing that, he went over his thoughts.

Yerba was nice. Really nice, actually. He liked her and he was glad that they were friends. Now all he had to worry about was somehow finding a way to keep their friendship intact. What if she stops liking him at some point during the school year? Or what if she's the only dragon to like him throughout the school year?

Dolphin seemed like a nice dragon, though. Maybe Robin could become friends with him. He was hoping that at some point they could form a mutual friendship with each other. Dolphin struck him as the kind of dragon who wasn't very mean and also one that he could hang out with if he wanted a more 'mellow' time.

But Stormseeker…

Robin wasn't really sure how he felt about the NightWing. On one talon, he didn't feel he'd be able to become friends with such a closed-off, reclused NightWing. On the other talon, Robin knew that he could probably count on Stormseeker if he wanted someone that he could be quiet with. But then on the third talon, wouldn't it be harder to become friends with him?

A yawn soon escaped his mouth and that served as the signal that Robin should go to sleep. He closed his eyes and let himself fade into slumber.

* * *

"RISE AND SHIIIIIIINE!"

Yerba's loud voice suddenly assaulted his ears and he woke with a start. He fell off of the rock ledge and landed with a thud. He steadily rose back onto his feet and turned his head to look at the SandWing.

"Yerba," he groaned. "Please don't do that. I don't like it when dragons do that."

"Yeah. I second that," Dolphin grumbled while Stormseeker let out a startled hiss and arched his back.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Buuut it's time for us to head on over to our first small group discussion class! Which means that we'll get to meet the rest of our winglet!"

"Wow. I am very excited," said Stormseeker flatly. Robin felt a little bit of hope at that. If he was telling the truth, then maybe he really was eager to spend some time around other dragons in the school.

"I know you are!" Yerba grinned. "So let's go!"

She grabbed Robin and he had to wonder how she could be so active all the time. He had expected her to be a little bit more calm and sedate in the morning, but that was clearly not the case here. To him, there was probably a fire constantly raging inside of her.

"W-Wait!" Robin cried as Stormseeker and Dolphin went after them. Yerba, thankfully, got the idea and let go of him. Robin balanced himself and he trailed after Yerba. Dolphin soon caught up to him and Robin looked over his shoulder to look at Stormseeker, who was walking behind them.

Dolphin leaned in close to Robin's ear and whispered, "Well, she's really energetic."

Robin smiled at him. "I know," he whispered back. "But she's nice."

Other dragons passed them as they went and when they finally arrived at their class, there was already an adult NightWing there. He looked quite exhausted in Robin's opinion, and not the 'cute' kind of exhausted where they're tired but they still have a small smile on their face.

No. The NightWing looked as if he was about to suck out Robin's soul at any given moment, which made Robin already feel quite nervous about him.

The group of dragons seated themselves and Robin took a moment to enjoy how quiet it was in the classroom. He heard the occasional grumble from the older NightWing, but otherwise it felt perfectly peaceful in here to him.

"Oh, this is so exciting," Yerba whispered excitedly to Robin. Robin smiled and looked past her as he heard footsteps approaching the room. The newcomers soon came into sight and he saw a MudWing, a RainWing, and...Princess Eis.

He immediately felt his heart sink into his stomach.

 _She can't be that bad, can she?_ Robin thought to himself hopefully. _Maybe she was just in a bad mood when we first met! Aaw, maybe that's it. Well, I'd be happy to be her friend! Well...if she'll let me be her friend. But everyone needs a friend, and surely one more can't hurt, right?_

Okay, so he really wasn't convincing himself. All he could do was to just hope that his thoughts were true. Maybe she forgot about him, too, and so they can start all over and greet each other in the proper way, with no bumping into each other whatsoever.

Eis paused as she saw him and she narrowed her dark blue eyes. Well, it definitely became quite clear to him that she still remembered him and she probably wasn't pleased to see him either. He looked away and focused his attention on the RainWing and MudWing instead.

The RainWing had dark pink scales and her eyes were a light bluish color. She looked as if she was trying not to be noticed, as she was hunched over and her head was slightly lowered.

The MudWing looked rather cheerful and happy. He seemed to be more of a mellow and easygoing dragon than Yerba, but still nonetheless looked excited. Robin thought that maybe he could get along with this dragon, too.

"Great, we're all here," said the NightWing as the MudWing, IceWing, and RainWing all took a seat. Robin tried not to feel Eis' glare searing into his scales, but so far, he was failing. He started to shake his tail a little bit again as he hoped to distract himself from her.

"So, now that the Quartz Winglet is present, let's introduce ourselves to each other," said the NightWing. His gaze swept over each one of the dragonets. "You'll know me as Professor Runesearcher. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I will do the best I can to answer it. So, who's going to start?" he asked. His eyes landed directly on Yerba. "What about you?"

"Oh, perfect!" Yerba said, and she clapped her talons together. "So, I'm Yerba! My goal here is to learn as much as I can and make my mother proud and hopefully also make a lot of friends here as well! My favorite color is yellow and I really love to eat camels, too."

"Unnecessary details to help others get a better idea of you, that's perfect," Professor Runesearcher said. Yerba grinned in response. "Who next?"

"My name is Muskrat," the MudWing spoke up. A wide smile stretched across his face. "I came here with my sister, Hazel. We're both really excited about starting our school year here. I don't really have a goal here except to learn as much as I can. I hope that I don't seem dumb to any of you." His face flushed.

 _Aw. He seems really nice,_ Robin thought. Now he was really interested in getting to learn more about Muskrat.

"I'm sure you won't," said Runesearcher.

Runesearcher then looked at the RainWing expectantly and she hesitated before she said, "My name is Cotinga. I studied a lot before I came here so I hope I studied the right stuff. Umm...yeah, that's about it. I really like dark pink, though."

"I'm Dolphin!" the SeaWing spoke up soon after Cotinga finished. "I'm hoping that my experience at this school will help to shape me to become an awesome dragon! I also really want to make tons of friends here, too!" He smiled brightly at Robin and Robin grinned back at him.

Runesearcher nodded and then he looked to Princess Eis.

Eis cleared her throat. "Well, I am Princess Eis, daughter of Queen Snowdust and King Sleet, and I am also in line for the throne," she said. "I came here with my idiot bodyguard, North, and I was perfectly enthusiastic to share a winglet and learn side by side with dragons who weren't...clumsy"—she glared at Robin before looking back at Runesearcher—"but I suppose that as long as we don't share the same cave as each other, then I am fine with it. I'm hoping that my time at this school will help me take a few steps closer to the best version of myself that I can be."

"Actually, I-I'm not clumsy," Robin spoke up. He didn't know what he was doing, but he just didn't want her to think that he was clumsy. Of course, this had foreseeable consequences, but he still didn't like it when dragons thought that he was clumsy or stupid without getting to know him first. "I'm actually really cool! I'm just...you know, a little awkward, but if you just give me a chance I'll be the bestest friend you've ever had!"

Eis rolled her eyes. "Of course you would say something like that," she scoffed. "Any dragon would like to see themselves better than they actually are."

"Alright, Eis, mmmaaybe that's enough," Cotinga said nervously. Robin saw Muskrat and Dolphin nod in agreement while Stormseeker shook his head at the IceWing, but Eis seemed to ignore them.

Eis opened her mouth but before she could say anything more, Yerba said, "Okay! So, who next? Stormseeker, what about you?"

Stormseeker sighed. "Fine. I'm Stormseeker," he said. "I've come to Jade Mountain Academy because my family wanted me to, so here I am. I just want to survive the school year, which hopefully isn't too much to ask for."

"Don't worry, I'm sure it isn't," Robin said reassuringly to him. Well, at least he thought it was reassuring. Stormseeker just snorted in response, which made Robin wonder if that was perhaps the wrong thing to say.

"Oh, I understand," said Runesearcher. He glanced at Robin and the SkyWing started to feel anxiety in his stomach again.

He hesitated. "Uh...my name is Robin," he said after a moment. "I came here because I really, really want new experiences! And also because my aunt wanted me to come here! My aunt's really nice, you should meet her, but I guess that might be kinda weird since, y'know, she doesn't like talking to other dragons but for some reason she wants me to talk to other dragons but she's still very nice because she gave me my cape and I—oh, I guess I should stop talking."

Robin hoped that he said enough about himself. He felt Yerba nudge him gently, which encouraged him a little bit.

Runesearcher let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright," he said. Robin now got the feeling that poor Professor Runesearcher probably just wanted to retire and rest. He had to wonder how long the NightWing was on the job.

The dark red dragonet removed his attention from the professor and peered at the other dragons around him. Most of them didn't seem that unfriendly or hostile except for Eis (Stormseeker was hard to talk to, but otherwise not unkind), but Robin thought that maybe it won't be that bad after all.

Only time would tell.


	5. Chapter Four

Robin absentmindedly listened as Professor Clam, the history teacher, droned on and on about the Scorching. He had a half-filled sheet of paper right in front of him. He was supposed to be taking notes as the teacher went along, but at this point, Robin lost all interest in the lesson.

This was especially because of the frustrating wrinkles on the paper that Robin had. It grated on his nerves, but he was too nervous to ask for a smoother sheet of paper. Not only would he have to try to transfer the notes he already took on the other sheet, but he would also probably have to explain why he needed a new paper to take notes on, and he was not in the mood to convey his annoyance.

So he just sat there with as much patience as he could hold in. His tail shook slightly from side to side. _When is class over?_ he wondered. Robin tried his best to stay patient, but after he went through what felt like hours of Professor Singe's math class, it was getting harder to do so by the minute.

"Psst," Dolphin whispered. Robin glanced over at him and Dolphin pointed down to his own paper. Robin looked down at it and saw that Dolphin had drawn Professor Clam in a less-than-flattering manner right next to his notes.

The two dragonets snickered at each other and then Professor Clam cleared his throat. "Do you have a question?" asked Clam drily as he narrowed his blue eyes at the two dragonets.

"Um...nope!" Robin said quickly. A nervous smile stretched across his face. "Eheh...no questions here! Just keep doing what you were doing, professor! Uh...yeah."

The dark blue SeaWing eyed them in suspicion and Robin made his smile wider. Dolphin grinned at the professor as well. Then Professor Clam snorted and soon continued on with the lesson.

Robin let out a sigh of relief, but as he looked back to Dolphin he noticed Eis giving him a disapproving look. He quickly turned his gaze away from her and put his focus back on his paper.

After class, Yerba joined Robin and Dolphin on their way to the prey center to eat.

"Ugh, Professor Clam is the worst. He's always so boring," Yerba grumbled as she walked beside them. "And I swear that we had three pop quizzes this week! He moves on with the lesson way too fast!"

In Robin's opinion, that was true. Professor Clam always moved on with the lesson rather quickly and Robin struggled to try and keep up with the pace he was going at.

"At least he isn't Professor Runesearcher," Dolphin commented. They walked into the prey center and Robin tried to block out all of the loud noises that hurt his ears and all of the different colors that moved around him. "Now he's a frightening dragon."

"Yeah, but at least his sense of humor can actually make me laugh," Yerba said. They headed over to the pile of prey in the center of the room and they all picked out something to eat. Robin had a goat, Dolphin chose a fish, and Yerba picked a few lizards to eat. To Robin, it didn't look like a very satisfying meal. But then again, Yerba probably didn't need to eat as much as he did.

Around the prey center, Robin could spot Roadrunner watching over the dragonets. He was glad that the older SandWing was there to make sure that no one gets in trouble in the prey center. He was pretty sure that without him, Robin would've ended up as a flat stain on the floor by the end of the second week.

"You know that I saw what was going on during class, right?"

Robin tensed as he heard the high-pitched voice of Eis. His grip tightened on the goat as he forced himself to look at her, and he also noticed that North was with her as well. "Uh...what are you talking about?" he asked her.

"Yeah, Eis. What are you talking about?" Dolphin questioned. The SeaWing tilted his head at the white-scaled princess. Robin saw North crack a slight smile at this.

"Are you sure you saw them doing something?" Yerba asked. She beamed at Eis. "Maybe you were just imagining things."

Robin smiled at Dolphin and Yerba. He was glad that he was friends with both of them. Eis, on the other hand, didn't seem to be quite as amused by their actions as much as he was.

"Well, the princess is never wrong," said North. The gleam in his eyes seemed to tell a different story to Robin, though he wasn't quite sure about it yet.

Eis rolled her eyes and said, "Thank you, North. You three can try to ignore it all you want but it still doesn't erase the fact that you're going to fail if you keep up that behavior."

"Sheesh, you must be fun at parties," Yerba said.

"I am very fun at parties!" Eis responded indignantly. She lifted her chin and huffed. "You just don't quite understand my sense of fun."

"Our sense of fun," North said.

"Shut up, North," Eis snapped. North raised his brows at her and put up his talon in an 'okay' motion.

"Hey, look, I'm sure she understands your sense of fun perfectly," Robin interjected. "Maybe we could just do something fun other than try to argue with other dragons! Doesn't that sound exciting?" he asked. He waited apprehensively for Eis' response.

"Oh yes," Eis snorted. "It's truly one of the most exciting ideas I've heard in a while!"

Robin blinked. "Really?" he asked. He didn't think that it would be that easy to get someone like Eis to agree with him.

Silence.

"You know what, why do I even bother?" Eis groaned. Then she turned away and stomped off. North gave them an apologetic look before he quickly followed her.

"Hey, try to ignore her, okay?" Yerba asked after she finished the last of her lizards. "Sooner or later she'll have to pull that stick out of her tail soon."

Robin barely heard her as he stared at them. A feeling of dread entered him. His grip on the goat tightened even more. _Did I say something wrong?_ he wondered.

* * *

He couldn't sleep that night. He knew that Stormseeker, Yerba, and Dolphin were all sleeping safe and soundly, but for some reason, he was having difficulty to go to sleep. Maybe it was because of what happened with Eis earlier. Or maybe it was just because he was worried about what was going to happen the next day. Whatever it was, it kept him up.

Robin sighed as he got off of his rock ledge. He might as well go out for a midnight walk to clear his thoughts. Maybe he could go to the art cave, too. Drawing might be able to help as well, even if he never finished his picture.

The red SkyWing looked at his sleeping clawmates. They all looked so peaceful in their sleep. He let out a sigh and then he quietly headed out of the cave.

The stony corridors were dark and empty, a far cry from the light, crowded hallways that Robin had grown used to. In some ways, it comforted him. There was no one around to push him or shout at him or otherwise just do anything to get on his nerves.

But at the same time, it was also just as creepy to him as it could be. He felt as if anything could attack him at any given moment.

Still, he found it interesting to explore the school at this hour. At least there was no sort of loud noise or any sign of wrinkled papers around him to irritate him.

Then he heard the faint noise of talonsteps right behind him.

He gave a small jump and turned around to see the newcomer as he pulled in his cape closer to himself. He was greeted by the sight of Princess Eis, who was glaring right at him.

"What are you doing?" she queried. "Don't you know how late it is? What are you doing, just wandering around the school like this?"

"Well...what are you doing?" he asked.

"I was going to the library. I was hoping to do some late night studying before I noticed somebody just walking around by himself," Eis huffed.

Robin couldn't believe it. Did she actually think that he was suspicious? _But why would she be suspicious of you?_ he thought. It _'s not like you were going to murder someone! No, you don't murder anyone at all! Heroes don't murder dragons!_

"I was...I was just walking around the school," Robin promised quickly. "I promise that I-I'm not an abnormal dragon going on an abnormal kind of walk where I kill dragons on the way. I'm just a normal dragon going on a normal kind of walk. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes," the princess answered simply.

"Well if you think that I was so suspicious then why don't you have your bodyguard with you?" Robin asked irritably. Now Eis was just being unfair to him!

"He's sleeping," Eis said. "And to be honest, I'd rather go anywhere without him if I could get the chance to."

Robin sighed. "Look, I'm just trying to clear my thoughts, okay?" he said. He turned around and began to walk away from her. Maybe if he could reach the entrance to the school then he could go out flying, too. That and he wasn't in the mood to continue arguing with Eis.

Unfortunately for him, he heard Eis' talonsteps right behind him. "Thoughts about what?" she asked.

Robin quickened his pace. "Just...thoughts," he said. How should he even describe his thought process to her? He wondered if she would even understand him with the way that he would word it. Sometimes it was just hard for him to find the right way to put his thoughts together in a coherent sentence.

Eis opened her mouth and he mentally prepared himself for whatever she was going to say next…

"Of course I've been doing my best."

The two dragonets froze in their tracks. They stopped right at the very far end of the hallway that lead right to the entrance of the school, and in the distance, Robin could see the faint shape of two dragons outside of the school. But from the voice he heard, they probably weren't any dragons that he could recognize.

Robin wanted to go and hide, but he realized that from the distance that he and Eis were at and since it was quite dark, maybe those two dragons won't be able to recognize them. He glanced over at Eis, who pricked her ears. He guessed that she was probably trying to listen to them or maybe even figure out who they are, too.

"I don't understand why we need to infiltrate this school anyway," said the voice that spoke before. "Why are we wasting time with a bunch of dumb dragonets?"

"It's because we're looking for someone here," his companion said. "Once we find them and get rid of them, then we can go."

"Then it that case, we might as well blow up the entire school," the other dragon snorted.

A small chuckle came out of his companion. "And risk our messengers? You know the boss wouldn't like that, especially if none of them escape from the explosion. Now come on. Let's go hunt something. Maybe that should clear your grumpy SkyWing mind."

 _So one's a SkyWing?_ Robin thought as the two dragons spread their wings and flew away. Their wingbeats were heard from further and further away as he stood there and tried to collect his thoughts. _Why are they here? Well...they did say that they were looking for someone, I guess. But who?_

"Come on," Eis whispered to him. "It's time that we leave."

Robin hesitated before he nodded, and then he and Eis hurriedly headed back to their own cave.


	6. Chapter Five

Robin sat next to Eis in Professor Clam's class that day. The two exchanged a conversation through paper where one of them would write down their message, pass it to the other, and then they would receive their reply once the other passed it back to them. They attempted to pass their written conversation as discreetly as possible, which made it somewhat hard.

The fact that they were sharing the class with the Silver Winglet this time as well didn't help. With twice as many dragons in the class than Robin was used to, he made sure that he was _extra_ careful when giving his message to Eis. Surely if anyone noticed, they would ask about what their conversation was about. But Robin thought that they were doing quite well so far.

He saw Yerba and Dolphin give him curious looks a few times and Robin guessed that they were most likely wondering why he was sitting with the IceWing princess at the back of the class. He made a mental note to himself to share his reasons with them later on.

Eis pushed the paper across the floor to him and Robin took the paper. He looked up to make sure that Professor Clam was preoccupied with the lesson and, sure enough, the dark blue SeaWing was too busy scolding Yerba for talking too much to continue.

Robin looked down at the paper and read Eis' message to him.

 _After class, I'm going to the library to see if there's anything worth of interest that I can check out. It's worth a shot._

Robin thought about his reply before he took his claw and started to write on the paper.

 _Okay. Can I tell Dolphin and Yerba about this, too?_

It just didn't feel right for Robin to leave out his friends. And maybe they could help, too! He looked up and saw Yerba mutter something to Cotinga and Muskrat. Whatever Yerba said, judging by the way that Cotinga's scales turned orange and how Muskrat let out a sigh, Robin assumed that it was a bad joke. And it was probably about Clam, too.

"Now, can anyone tell me what caused the War of the SandWing Succession?" Professor Clam asked. He looked around for willing volunteers and saw a male pale blue SeaWing— _Shell?_ Robin wondered, for he couldn't be bothered to remember his name—raise his talon first.

Robin didn't listen to hear the SeaWing's answer now that Clam was occupied. He passed the paper over to Eis. She took it and he saw her eyes read his message, and then she gave him a pointed look.

A few moments later, she handed the paper back to him.

 _I wouldn't recommend it. But if you want to, then fine. Just make sure that they don't ruin everything._

He let out a small sigh of relief. So he wouldn't be alone with Eis in this.

A few minutes later, class was over, and the class was dismissed to go to the prey center or wherever else. Robin instantly called for Dolphin and Yerba to follow him, but Yerba was quickly interrupted by Professor Clam.

"Oh, no you don't," Clam said. "You're staying behind today to help me organize the scrolls."

" _Ugh_ ," Yerba groaned. "Fine, fine, I'll help." She looked at Robin and Dolphin. "You two go on ahead without me. I promise that I'll catch up later."

* * *

"So...you saw what was basically some kind of an elaborate scheme last night?" Dolphin quietly asked him that afternoon in their cave. They could be at the prey center right now, but Robin led Dolphin here because it was quieter than it was in the prey center and there would be few dragons to come around and interrupt them.

"Yeah," Robin answered. "There was a SkyWing there, I think, and he was with another dragon. They were talking about something. Or, um, maybe some _one_. They said something about messengers and...and they also wanted to look for a certain someone."

Dolphin opened his mouth.

"I don't know who," Robin cut in quickly. "But if I had to take a guess, it would be someone who is...important? Talented, witty, smart, strong, whatever. Just anyone who might seem like a threat or something."

Dolphin put one of his claws to his chin. "Heh. So...if that's true, then that should mean that I'm safe," he said.

"What?"

"Nnnnever mind," Dolphin said. "Let's just try and focus for right now, okay? We're going to do just _great_!"

A thought crossed Robin's mind. "We'll be just like those mystery solvers in the scrolls!" he said excitedly. This was his chance to be the hero that he always wanted to be! He could probably save the entire school! "We're going to be awesome!"

"I better hope so," Eis snorted as she strode into the cave. Robin and Dolphin whipped their heads around to look at her. She glared at them and her tail lashed slightly. "Since you're _clearly_ treating this _very real_ situation as if it's just another fictional mystery that's going to be solved by two _stupid_ dragonets. If you really think—"

Robin's tail slightly started to shake. "Okay, okay!" he said. "We _know_ that it's a big deal, I promise!"

"Then _treat_ it like one!" Eis snapped. Then she let out a sigh. "Come on. Let's go to the prey center. Let's see if we can find any possible targets there." And with that, she turned and stomped out of the cave.

Robin and Dolphin exchanged glances before following the princess. Robin thought that Eis had a pretty good reason to be angry about it. Maybe they really should take it more seriously instead of treating it like a joke.

That didn't mean that he was eager to go into the prey center, though.

But to his surprise and relief, the prey center turned out to be emptier than it had been in the past few days. There was still a fair amount of dragons in it, but the noise wasn't as raucous as he was used to it being.

Robin watched as Eis walked through the crowd confidently. Once again, he just couldn't understand how anyone could go through a large lot of dragons without looking so worried. He noticed Dolphin had put on his most self-assured face and posture, and the SeaWing strutted into the crowd.

The dark red dragonet stared after them. He turned his head toward both sides in hesitation, and then he gingerly walked behind them.

Then Eis stopped. She took a look around the prey center. Robin recognized Muskrat and another MudWing sharing their prey and there were a few SeaWings eating fish together as well. But Eis' eyes landed on Stormseeker, who had just finished up his bear, and her eyes narrowed at him.

"You know, _he's_ a pretty mysterious dragon," Eis said. "He pushes everyone away and he keeps to himself _all the time_. I bet he's hiding a secret, don't you think?"

Robin felt surprised at the suggestion. True, Stormseeker wasn't the most...social dragon, but then again, so are plenty of others. It didn't occur to him that Stormseeker could be hiding something. He always just thought that he didn't like to talk to anyone.

"Well...I guess it might be worth a try," Dolphin said.

Before Robin could tell them his opinion, the two quickly went to meet Stormseeker.

"Wait, but, um—I mean, okay then." He hurried after them.

Stormseeker raised his head to look at them as they approached. Eis gave him a firm look as she walked up to him while Dolphin gave him a friendly smile. Robin slightly waved at Stormseeker, but the blue-tinted NightWing narrowed his eyes at them.

Before Eis could say anything, Dolphin said, "So, Stormseeker, I was wondering if there is anything else you'd like to share with your wingmates."

Robin noticed that the NightWing slightly stiffened at this. "Why do you want to know?"

"We are wingmates," Eis said. She gave him an innocent smile. "I only want to get to know you more."

"There's really nothing you need to know about me," Stormseeker promised, shrugging. "I'm just a regular dragon. There's really nothing special about me."

"Are you sure?" Eis queried. "You seem really introverted. I promise that if you were really 'nothing special', you wouldn't be as secretive as you seem."

"Maybe I just don't want nosy dragons like you getting into my business," Stormseeker retorted. His eyes gleamed dangerously at her, and Robin wondered if he would even attack Eis if she kept up with this.

"Hey, I'm only curious," Eis said. Then a spark came into her eyes and her lips curled into a more menacing smile. "Unless you're hiding something really bad. So have you done anything bad recently? Or maybe you're planning something bad right now! I bet you are, aren't you?"

"I am not," Stormseeker snapped.

"Eis, I think...I...I think we should probably just l-leave him alone," Robin whispered to her.

Either Eis didn't hear him or she just didn't care.

"So...tell me. Do you know any animi or royalty? Personally?" Eis questioned the NightWing. "We're looking for a certain someone, so if you could just tell us, then that would be nice. Of course, I just want to get to know them more and I thought you could introduce me to them. You should probably listen to a princess, after all."

A crowd of dragons had noticed the quarrel going on, and they started to gather around the four dragonets. Robin heard curious whispers being passed around them and he wished that he could just run away from them. His tail started to shake in anxiety.

 _Maybe North can get Eis to listen,_ Robin thought. He looked around at the crowd for the male IceWing, but unfortunately, North was nowhere to be found. _So much for a bodyguard!_ he thought indignantly.

"You're not my princess," Stormseeker huffed. "I don't have to listen to you."

"Can't you just tell us anything about any dragon that might be really important?" Dolphin asked before Eis could answer. Robin felt relieved that Dolphin cut in since he also felt the tension ease a little bit.

"Don't you already know who's an animus and which tribes have them?" Stormseeker demanded.

"Well...as I said before, I was hoping that you could introduce us to them if you personally knew them. But yes, I do, though there are very few," Eis said. "Like...oh, yes, Shadehunter of the NightWings!"

Stormseeker stiffened, and so did a few of the other NightWings in the crowd. Robin saw some of the NightWings whisper to each other, and he wished that he could hear them.

Eis noticed only Stormseeker's tense reaction to the name. "Oh!" she said, and her eyes lit up. "Did you perhaps know Shadehunter? I know that he disappeared a long time ago and no one really knows what happened to him, but maybe you do."

"Why are you so concerned about whether or not I know him?" Stormseeker asked with a tone of irritation. "I've heard of him, but I never met him once in my life before he disappeared. So go away. Don't you have anything better to do?

Robin was surprised at how hostile Stormseeker seemed to turn the moment that Eis mentioned Shadehunter. Stormseeker _did_ say that he never met him, but Robin had the feeling that he was lying. Maybe he did have a connection to Shadehunter.

"Excuse us, for we are currently in possession of a motive that would justify our intruding presence in your increasingly malevolent protracted debate."

Robin's ears pricked at the sound of a new voice and he turned around. An deep red SkyWing with brown eyes pushed his way through the crowd and right behind him came the slightly familiar gold figure of Princess Corona.

"Thank you, Gale," Corona said to her companion. Gale grinned at her before she turned around to eye the four dragonets with concern in her eyes.

"P-Princess Corona!" Robin squeaked. "Oh, I-I'm so sorry to draw your attention to this, I mean—I didn't realize you would—" Robin tried to find the right words to say.

"Hey, hey, don't worry," Corona assured him. She looked around at the crowd and flicked her tail at them. "Please leave. I wish to make this private matters."

The crowd of dragons looked at each other before one of the SkyWings said, "Well, you heard the princess! Get moving!"

And then the crowd dispersed.

Robin looked over at Gale and tilted his head. "Um...are you going to...you know." He jerked his head to the side. "Uh...I mean...unless you're staying here, I guess."

"Oh, no. I will inform you with confidence that my state of existence currently being located in the realms of our particular area has a motivation, so I am permitted to remain stationary," Gale said. He gave Robin a smile.

 _What?_ Robin wondered.

"That's just his special way of speaking," Corona said, noticing the confused looks on Eis, Dolphin, and Robin, but Stormseeker seemed to understand Gale just fine. Either that or he was really good at hiding confusion. "He means that he can stay here."

"Oh, I understand now," Dolphin said. "Yup! I understand! Totally!"

Robin took a moment to observe Gale. Gale did not act like any other dragon that he had met before. He was kind of...weird. That made Robin quite interested in him. Was there a specific reason why he spoke like that? Do these words just come to him naturally?

"It certainly is an odd way of speaking," Eis commented. "But oh well." She turned to look at Corona and she eyed her intently. "Princess Corona, is it? I've heard about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The same goes to you," Corona said. "Princess Eis of the IceWings, I believe?"

"That's me," Eis replied. Her eyes shimmered and her chest puffed out slightly.

Stormseeker snorted. "Can I leave now?" he asked. "I don't want to be here."

"Fine, fine," Eis said, waving one of her claws dismissively. "I suppose now that there really isn't anything interesting about you. Apologies for the inconvenience."

"Are you sure about that?" Corona asked Eis.

"Of course I am," the IceWing replied.

Stormseeker glared at her, then he huffed and left the group.

"Well...so we went through all that trouble for nothing," Dolphin sighed. "But at least it's over now, right, Robin?" he asked. He looked over to Robin with a grin on his face.

Robin hesitated. "Um...sure, I guess?" he shrugged. "I mean...it's...uh, it's not like we really needed a crowd to watch us, so...yay?" A nervous chuckle came out of his mouth.

"So what was going on around here?" Corona asked. "It looked as if you were giving him trouble. I hope that you weren't."

"I share the same opinion," Gale said, nodding. "It would be an undesirable and unwelcome event if that took place in a genuine and truthful manner."

"No, we weren't," Eis said innocently, tilting her head to the side. "We just wanted to talk and it simply just escalated."

"Oh...well, if any trouble like this ever happens again, then maybe one of you should get me," Corona said. "I believe that I could be a good mediator. If not, then maybe this could be good practice." She chuckled lightly. "But I wouldn't opposed to being brought over to spend some time in your company. You see like interesting dragons."

Dolphin smiled. "Well, you seem like a pretty interesting dragon as well," he remarked.

Corona looked as if she was embarrassed by Dolphin's compliment, and she smiled faintly at him. "Well...I suppose I would like for us to get to know each other better as well. I think you seem rather intriguing, too."

"What? Me?" Dolphin asked. He smiled at her. "Trust me when I say that I'm really nothing special! Buuuuuuuut who knows? Maybe I am but I just don't know it? Care to find out for yourself?"

"Okay, I believe this conversation is over now," Eis said, glaring at Dolphin. Robin frowned, but didn't say anything. Eis glanced back at Corona. "It's been a pleasure getting to know you. I look forward to our next meeting."

Corona nodded. "It has also been nice to meet you," she said. She looked at Gale. "Come on, Gale. Let's head on over to the library now."

Then the two SkyWings turned away and Robin watched as they headed out of the prey center.

Robin had to admit that the princess and her companion actually seemed to be quite... _likable_. He especially didn't expect the SkyWing princess to be this friendly, either. He felt as if he wanted to get to know them better.

"So...they were interesting, huh?" Dolphin grinned.

And by the looks of it, so did Dolphin.

"Alright," Eis sighed. She looked towards Robin with a stern glare. "Robin, what do you know about Princess Corona?" she asked.

 _Wait, seriously?_ Robin thought, startled. Eis was expecting him to actually know much about Corona? It wasn't as if he's been close to the princess his entire life or something! What did _Eis_ expect him to know? He certainly didn't know anything about her that he could tell Eis!

And, probably by luck, Yerba suddenly rushed over to them. "Hey guys!" she said cheerfully. The SandWing looked between the three of them and raised a brow. "So...what'd I miss?"


	7. Chapter Six

"Did you _have_ to tell her what we were up to?" Eis hissed to him while they worked in Professor Singe's class the next day. They were supposed to be answering questions on the sheet, but to Robin, that wasn't the most important thing right now.

Robin looked at Eis with an apologetic smile on his face. "Is that bad?"

"Yes," Eis whispered sharply.

"Why?"

The IceWing only gave a huff in response, and she turned her head to look back down at her paper. Robin almost expected her to glance at him again, but she didn't. _Well, I guess I should've expected_ that _,_ Robin thought. Even when they were supposed to be working together on something, Eis seemed very distant.

He knew that the only reason Eis decided to work with him because he was one of the few dragons who knew that _something_ was going on. He had been enthusiastic for the chance to spend more time with Eis and show him his better side and impress her so much that she would be his friend.

Yet he felt no closer to Eis than they had been before. And, to tell the truth, it was getting a bit _frustrating_. What did Eis want from him? It was almost as if his entire existence on its own was enough to suck the happiness right out of her. It was almost as if they had past lives and Robin did something so unspeakably horrible that Eis still remembers in her current life.

...Actually, the idea of it _did_ sound somewhat appealing.

But it was obviously not true, no matter how much he wanted it to be. He thought that it would be easier to just go up to her and say, " _Look, I'm sorry for what happened in our past lives and I was a terrible dragon back then, but hey, look, I'm a completely different dragon now and I want to make up for what I did if you could just give me the chance to!"_

Here, Eis was just a mystery to him. They didn't know each other that well but they _were_ spending time in each other's company, except that didn't really do much to improve their relationship with each other.

 _Maybe Eis is just in a bad mood today,_ he thought. She _did_ ask him if he _had_ to tell Yerba. Perhaps Eis just didn't like Yerba very much, which was an idea that confused Robin since he quite liked Yerba himself. Besides, he trusted her enough to help them and keep the secret at the same time.

"Don't worry," Yerba had told him when he first talked to her about what they were doing. "I w _ill_ find a way to help. And I _will_ make sure that we make some progress. Trust me on this."

Actually...looking back on it now, Robin thought that Yerba sounded a little grim when she said that. Grimmer than she usually was, really. Did she have something in mind? _Well, of course she does,_ Robin answered himself. _Wouldn't anyone after hearing there might be some kind of evil plot going on?_

Eis certainly was thinking about something dark. Why else would she be taking this so seriously? True, she could be just as eager to be the hero of some kind of grand adventure as well, but he didn't quite see her to be _that_ kind of dragon.

Robin snapped out of his thoughts as he realized that he had been way too distracted and he was now lagging behind the rest of the class. He hurried to catch up.

After class, he managed to catch up with Yerba. They began to head off to the library to see what scrolls they could check out this time around. "So," said the SandWing as they walked side by side, "it seemed as if you were thinking about something during class."

"What?" Robin said, startled. "How did _you_ know? I mean, not that I'm admitting that I was thinking distracting thoughts during class today, but…"

Yerba narrowed her eyes at him.

Robin sighed. "Alright," he said. "So I _was_ thinking during class today," he said. He lowered his voice so the dragons around them wouldn't hear. "About Eis and why she's so angry all the time and about what's going on and it's just so overwhelming and—"

"Yeah, I think I get it now," Yerba interrupted. Her voice was gentle. "You're worried and you're wondering how to deal with things. I understand how that feels. Just tell me what you're worried about the most, and I'll try to help."

He blinked at her. Was she actually going to help him with this? _Can_ she even help him? She was so loud and boisterous. She was impulsive and talkative and she certainly did not seem like the type to be able to give him good advice on his problems, as much as he liked her.

But...she wasn't being so loud and rowdy now. Maybe he should give her a chance here.

"Alright," he began as they turned a corner. "There's...Eis. She's, well, she's just been hostile to me. I'm trying my best. I really am, I swear! But every time she just keeps pushing me away and it's getting... _annoying_. I really want her to like me and think that I'm great and that I'm a good dragon and that I can be a really good friend. I mean, if that's what I _really_ am, I guess, but still! I just want us to be friends, but it's just so hard to do that. I mean—well—I'm not asking for us to become _best bubbly buddies_ or anything! Just...I don't know, I just want to get on friendlier terms with her."

Yerba stood silent for a moment and then she opened her mouth. "Just give it time," she said. "Eis seems like a hardened dragon to me. She's tough to get close to, so of course you're not magically going to become friends with her. She doesn't even seem that fond of the other IceWings in this school! I read about IceWings once in a scroll, and their lifestyle is strict, puts a pretty big emphasis on discipline, and it's certainly nothing _I_ want to be part of. Not only that, but Eis is also a princess, which must come with _tons_ of responsibilities. And if I had to take a guess, that must be hard.

"Also remember that you _want_ to be friends with Eis, but you don't _need_ to. If you aren't succeeding in trying to become her friend and she's still being rude to you, then don't be afraid to stay away from her. There's nothing wrong with staying away from dragons who are like that to you."

"But I _do_ want to be friends with her," Robin said. "I just don't know how."

"I'm sure you'll find it out," Yerba smiled. "You're determined and I can just _tell_ that you're the kind who can drill through _any_ dragon's hardened shell. You'll figure out a way to become friends with her, I know you can. Just don't try to force yourself to do it too much, alright?"

Robin nodded. "Alright," he said. He thought about her words for a little bit. They _did_ make sense. And they were comforting in a way, too. Maybe Yerba was right about this. Maybe he really didn't _need_ to befriend Eis, but he can certainly _try,_ and he _can_ succeed.

"Weren't you also worried about the whole...you know what thing?" Yerba asked him.

The SkyWing hesitated, and then he shook his head. "No," he replied. "I think I'll be able to handle that on my own."

She nodded. "Alright," she said. "But just remember that if you ever want to talk about something, then you always have me." She stopped in front of the library. "Looks like we're here at our destination, too! So, let's get reading!"

* * *

Robin was still awake by the time the moons were up in the sky. He was still thinking about Eis and what he could do to prove to her that he was not incompetent and that he was just as capable as her. It had been keeping him awake for quite a while now, and only now he came up with the idea to get to spend more time with her alone _and_ get to spend more time trying to solve the mystery.

 _But wouldn't it look suspicious?_ he worried. _What if we get caught and the teachers think that we're up to something terrible?_ Robin certainly couldn't think up of anything that would make what he was planning seem any less suspicious. It was one thing for a single dragonet to be calmly exploring the school to clear his mind, and it was another thing for two dragonets to be snooping around the school for no apparent reason.

He worried that he'll end up getting both himself and Eis caught and then the teachers will throw them out of the school and Robin would have to face a disappointed Aunt Falcon and Eis would hate him forever all the way from the Ice Kingdom and then he'll have to lock himself in his room for the rest of his life until he ended up dying of shame.

What if this was the only chance that he had? If he was too cowardly to do this now, then maybe he'll _always_ be too cowardly to do this. Robin raised his head and looked around at his clawmates. Stormseeker, Dolphin, and Yerba were all sleeping soundly. These were all dragons who could probably benefit from what he had in mind if he managed to do it and succeed, too.

He clenched his claws. _Alright, you can do this,_ he told himself. _That's right! I'm going to be brave and I'm going to be the hero I want to be. And that'll start here._

Somehow it didn't encourage him as much as he hoped it would, but he still forced himself to go. He rose up onto his feet and made his way out of his cave, careful not to wake up any of the others. As soon as he was out of the cave, he looked around at the dark, stony hallways that greeted him. He shivered as he saw them. He was still not used to seeing the school like this.

The dark red dragonet straightened himself. _I'm still able to do this,_ he thought. He repeated the thought to himself over and over again until he arrived at Eis' cave. He poked his head inside and saw both of Eis' clawmates sleeping. Muskrat and Cotinga both seemed to be at peace, but he thought he saw Cotinga's talons twitch.

Was she about to wake up? He stared at Cotinga for a moment and she shifted her position, but otherwise she made no other movement except for the twitching of her talons. He let out a small sigh of relief and looked toward the back of the cave, where Eis was sleeping so far away from both of her clawmates.

He felt himself deflate a little bit. Eis, like Stormseeker, seemed to be purposefully distancing herself from the dragons she was supposed to be with.

He hesitated as he took quiet steps into the cave. He went to Eis and prodded her in her side. Almost at once, the IceWing was wide awake and she whipped her head around to glare at him, hissing. Her eyes slightly widened as she saw that he was there.

"What do you think you're doing?" Eis hissed at him. "Don't you understand how late it is?"

"I know," Robin answered quietly. He glanced at Muskrat and Cotinga to check that they weren't about to wake up. "But...I just want you to come with me. We're going to do some investigating." He looked back at Eis.

Eis looked as if she was in disbelief. "Seriously? You do realize that we can get in trouble for this, right?"

"Well...yes," Robin admitted. "I'm aware of that...buuut look on the bright side! If we manage to find anything, then we have more knowledge on what we're up against. Am I right? Right? Eis? Please tell me I'm right and I'm not being an idiot. Please?"

Much to his relief, Eis actually seemed to be seriously considering what he said. And to a much greater feeling of ecstasy, the princess nodded and stood up. "But if we get in trouble, then I'm blaming you," she growled at him.

"Sounds fair," he smiled. He was just glad that he actually managed to convince her to come with him.

The two left the cave together. "So, where should we start?" Robin asked. He tried not to wince as Eis narrowed her eyes at him.

"Wait a minute," she said. "So you convince me to drag myself out of my cave in the middle of the night, and then it turns out you really have no idea what to do?"

"To be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far."

Eis sighed through her nostrils. "Alright. Why don't we start...at the library?" she suggested. "Maybe we can find something there. For all I know, there could be something hidden in those racks of scrolls."

"Then let's go!" Robin whispered to her enthusiastically, and he bounded off toward the direction of the library.

"You idiot!" Eis hissed after him. Robin skidded to a stop and looked back at her. "Not that way," she said. "We could be caught. That's the path that leads toward the staff cave. One of the teachers could be in there and we could've gotten in trouble. Here, let's head this way instead. We can—"

"Shh!" Robin hushed sharply. Eis stiffened, and then she narrowed her eyes at him. Robin's ears pricked as he heard voices from further down the mountain corridor—it was coming right from the staff cave, too.

Eis heard it as well and looked at him. "We should check that out," she muttered. This time, it was her turn to go ahead of him. Robin walked behind her, wondering what the teachers could be talking about right now.

They both stopped outside of the staff cave, making sure to keep themselves hidden. They stood to the side of the cave, listening in on the conversation going on inside.

"Are you sure about this?" asked one of the teachers. Robin knew that that was Professor Singe's voice. "This could be really dangerous. Anything can go wrong here," she said. "How do you know it will even work?"

"We don't," said Professor Runesearcher. Robin felt surprised as he realized that this was the first time that he heard Runesearcher's voice in a tone that wasn't annoyed. In fact, it sounded more...urgent. Which must mean that whatever they were talking about, it was important. "But we still need to try it out."

"If our sources are correct, then our enemies are either nearby or right here in our school," spoke Professor Clam. "None of the other teachers and staff know about this. Not Roadrunner, not Dovekie, not anyone. We're the only ones at this school who might be able to do anything about it, and of course it's just our luck that we don't even know the names of our infiltrators or what they look like."

"Then we just need to keep our eyes and ears open," Professor Runesearcher said. "If we aren't constantly aware, then we might miss something important."

 _Are they talking about the same two dragons Eis and I saw that night?_ Robin wondered. Did they know that those two dragons had been there? Or did they miss them? Robin hoped that they saw them. Maybe if his teachers also knew what was going on, then he wouldn't need to worry about it as much.

But there was some part of him that wanted to be the only one to know about it along with the rest of his friends. What would happen if his teachers ended up dealing with the problem on their own?

 _Okay, so maybe that'd go better than whatever I can do,_ Robin admitted to himself. But still, by the sounds of it, it seems as if they don't even have knowledge of the meeting between the two mysterious dragons that had already taken place. Robin wanted to know what they knew. How much did they even know?

"But still, are you sure that they might be after only her?" Singe demanded. "Yes, she can be important to their goals. If she dies, then her mother would be furious. But surely we can't just value her life over those of the other students just because of that."

"We won't," Runesearcher promised. "She's the most likely target for them, but of course we're not going to consider the lives of the other students less important. The three of us have seen what the Ascendancy can do. As long as they're still around, then everyone's lives are in danger."

"Yes," Clam agreed. "Jade Mountain Academy might just be the last thing keeping all seven of the tribes together. If anything happens here, then...I don't even want to think about the consequences."

Robin looked at Eis. "Should we go?" he whispered to her. Eis nodded, and then she began to go on her way. Robin followed her. His mind was a whirlwind of so many confused thoughts.

So Runesearcher, Singe, and Clam knew something as well. But which dragons were they talking about? Who were their enemies? What was the Ascendancy? This information was all so new and shocking to him.

"So...looks like that idea of yours turned out to be useful after all," Eis said. She gave him a sideways glance and Robin was startled that she would even say that to him. He didn't expect her to say anything like that.

"You...really think so?" he asked, looking at her with questioning green eyes.

"Yes," Eis replied. "It looks as if I'm forced to admit that you're...not as useless of a dragon as I thought you were. It seems that I underestimated you, Robin of the SkyWings."

Robin smiled at her, and Eis actually allowed a small smile on her face to appear as well before she quickly removed it, replacing it with a frown. "But I still have to see more from you," she said. "This was only just a single moment, and I can't judge you based on that."

"Alright," Robin said, nodding. "I promise that I won't disappoint you."

"Good," said the IceWing princess.

The rest of the way back, they didn't say a single word to each other. Robin was too caught up in his thoughts after they stopped talking, and he assumed that Eis was the same way as well.

In fact, he was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice the familiar black figure standing in front of him until he caught himself and nearly bumped into Stormseeker.

Eis glared at the NightWing. "What are you doing here?" she asked him, lashing her tail.

"I was only here looking for my clawmate," Stormseeker shrugged. "I woke up and I noticed that the spot of a certain SkyWing was empty, so I thought that I might as well find out where he went."

"Well, um...I'm over here! Ehe..." Robin said. He chuckled nervously.

"Now what are you doing here?" Stormseeker asked. "I'm curious. If I had to guess, then you probably up to something. And probably not anything like late night studying."

"I'm sorry," Eis responded icily. She lifted her chin slightly. "I believe that this is none of your business. So why don't you just leave us alone and stop poking your nose into what we're doing?"

"Oh, really?" Stormseeker asked. He tilted his head to the side. "Now why does this conversation seem so familiar? Perhaps it's because it includes someone continually asking the other the same question even though the other had said no and told them to stop asking?"

Eis opened her mouth to reply, and then she shut it, growling. Robin felt bad for her, but he did have to admit that Stormseeker was right. Robin couldn't really try to defend or back up Eis here.

"Maybe we should just tell him," the SkyWing whispered to her. Eis gave him an incredulous look.

"Don't we have enough dragons knowing about this?" she hissed to him.

"What's the harm in telling Stormseeker?" he asked. He didn't know Stormseeker all that well, but he didn't strike Robin as the kind of dragon who would just give away a secret like this.

"You know, if you don't want me to tell, then I won't," Stormseeker said. "All I'm asking for is an honest answer."

"Eis, come on, let's just tell him," Robin said to her. Eis muttered something under her breath, and then she looked up at Stormseeker, glaring at him.

"Fine," she said. "We'll tell you everything, from start to finish."

And she certainly wasn't lying about it, either. Eis had told him every single detail of what she and Robin had seen and why they were out of their caves in the first place. Robin watched as Stormseeker took in the information. He wondered if he would believe them.

After Eis finished, Stormseeker blinked at them. "That is certainly...interesting," he said. "And I believe you." Robin felt shocked. Stormseeker actually believed them? Even though they had little to no proof of it?

"But I want to help, too," Stormseeker said.

Eis groaned. "Why?" she demanded. "You can't certainly get anything out of this."

"Maybe not," Stormseeker said. "But lives could be in danger here. And I won't just sit around and wait for someone to deal with the problem when I could do something to help."

"And what could you do to help?" Eis asked, her eyes narrowed.

Stormseeker gave her a rueful smile. "A lot more than you know."


	8. Bonus Scene: SkyWing Princess

It was after the end of Professor Singe's class did Dolphin begin to make his way back toward his cave. He was going back to get a scroll that he accidentally left there. He wanted to get it back because he remembered that he had some important notes in there and he wanted to go look over them again.

Maybe it was just because he was feeling as if he was missing something. Dolphin didn't want to forget something important and then embarrass himself in front of the class. Truth be told, he got a little caught up with the whole "Someone is probably doing something evil" thing. That certainly seemed more important than sitting down in boredom and taking notes on a sheet of paper, but he didn't want to see what would happen if he failed class.

He was already as embarrassing as it is. True, he had never been the brightest out of anyone, but he still didn't want them to think that he was irredeemably _stupid_. He could hear his sister scolding him now, telling him that if he couldn't get his act together soon then he should just leave.

But he didn't want to leave. So maybe a lot of the dragons here made him feel nervous, but he had no desire to leave Robin or Yerba behind. They were the first friends that he had in a long time. They liked him despite the fact that he was slower than other dragons. Or at least, Dolphin hoped so. He hoped that they weren't just keeping him around for comedy's sake.

 _Stop that,_ Dolphin told himself. No one was going to make him leave. His sister wasn't here now at this school. She was back at home, probably helping their father with something. Brook couldn't boss him around or criticize him or make him feel bad about himself. _I could do that just fine on my own._

He made his way down the mountain passage. The path leading to his cave was quite empty, and he was glad for that. He liked it when he didn't have to push through tons of dragons just to get to where he wanted to go.

It was almost a surprise to him when he accidentally bumped into a gold-scaled SkyWing on his way there. "Oh, sorry!" the SkyWing apologized. She gave him an embarrassed look. "This doesn't usually happen. I promise that I was only coming back from visiting a friend in another cave. I didn't think that there would be anyone else here."

"Hey, neither did I. It's...um...it's fine, it's fine. I promise," Dolphin said. He smiled at her and almost at once he recognized who she was. "Oh, hey!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you Corona? Er, I mean, _Princess_ Corona?"

The SkyWing nodded. "Yes, I am," she answered. "And you were the SeaWing who was with Princess Eis. Apologies, but I did not catch your name. If it's alright for me to ask, can you tell me your name?"

"It's Dolphin," the green SeaWing responded. His smile grew wider. _Look confident,_ he told himself. _If there's one thing you're good at, it's faking self-confidence to absolute strangers!_ "So, are you still interested in getting to know more about me? You should know that I'm a dragon with great friends. _They_ think I'm interesting, so how about you?" _Oh great, now I sound like the kind of guy who flaunts his overconfidence around and will beat up anyone who even looks at his girlfriend._

Corona smiled at him. "In fact, I _am_ still very interested in you," she said. "You seem like an intriguing dragon."

 _Really?_ Very few dragons have ever said that to Dolphin before, despite all of his efforts to become friends with so many dragons. For most of his life, no one really expected that much of him. He only came from a small family of SeaWings and his mother left the family when he was still young (though last time he checked, she had remarried and had four other SeaWing dragonets), so really, no one expected much from his entire family.

And then there was Brook. _Talented_ , _exceptional_ Brook. Dolphin wished that he had even half of her skill.

"You really think that?" Dolphin asked with a startled expression, forgetting that he wanted to look confident. He realized it a moment later and thought, _Okay, never mind, I'm also bad at faking confidence._

"Of course," Corona said. "I really do want to get to know you better. Oh! And I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with me right now. I just really, _really_ mean what I say. But at the same time, I guess I don't want to bother you. Mother taught me how to be polite. I'll leave right now if you want to."

"No, no!" Dolphin said quickly. "It's fine. I want to get to know you more, too." He didn't think that it should be _Corona_ who should say that. Usually it was him who said something like that. If he had to guess, then Corona was probably a far better dragon than he was.

She was a _princess_ , too. She came from a well-known family that is highly respected (unless SkyWings ended up being weird and Corona and her family _aren't_ well-known and highly respected) while he came from a family where his sister was the only one who would probably end up doing something significant. How could Corona possibly be interested in a dragon like him?

But...he really couldn't chase her away. It was rare for anyone to show an interest in _him_ instead of the other way around. Or, well, really in this case, it was more of a mutual interest, which thrilled Dolphin. He didn't want to ruin it. Corona wanted to know more about him, and he wanted to get to know her as well.

"So...is there anything you want to do? I mean, like, do you have anything in mind for the rest of your life?" Dolphin asked her.

"Oh, I do," Corona answered. "I actually want to become a general. I want to be able to command an army and defend my kingdom well. I'll probably take the throne, too, sometime later in the future, although I'm not quite sure of it yet. I think I want to learn more about leading before challenging my mother for the throne," she said. "That and I quite like my mother, which, as you can guess, is a little inconvenient for if you want the throne later in the future."

 _That makes sense,_ Dolphin thought. He was pretty sure that Corona would be able to lead other dragons well. He thought that she had a powerful and distinct presence, which contrasted with her gentle voice and kind words. In fact, she really wasn't anything like he imagined her to be.

He thought that she would be more of a rough dragon. One who was hardened, yet had a powerful and demanding demeanor. But his first meeting with her clearly proved that wrong. She seemed to be very friendly and open.

"What about you?" Corona said.

"Me?" Dolphin asked. _Right, I should've expected her to ask that._ He silently cursed himself for the answer he was about to give. "I'm not really sure yet, to be honest. Buuut I'm pretty sure I'll be able to figure something out. I mean, surely a dragon like _me_ can't wander around aimlessly forever, right?" He grinned.

It was the truth. He really didn't have any idea what to do with his life, and he was pretty sure that a dragon like him would most definitely wander around aimlessly forever. But why make himself seem so pathetic and pitiful for it? That was what he _felt_ , but he certainly didn't want to show that in front of Corona.

"Oh, I'm certain that you will," she said. "I think that you're proving to be far too good of a dragon to not know what to do with yourself."

 _She seems to make judgments about dragons pretty early,_ Dolphin observed.

"And if you ever need help," Corona said, "then I'll be willing to give it to you!"

"Thank you, but no help is necessary," Dolphin grinned. Now his stomach squirmed. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ his brain shouted. Did he seriously just say that? Will Corona think that he's far too arrogant and overconfident for his own good?

To his relief, Corona didn't seem to think too negatively about it. "I don't doubt it," she said.

"So what are you doing here?" Dolphin questioned. "I would've expected you to, y'know, kind of still hang around in the Sky Kingdom. Either that or at least have some guards to come with you."

"I just thought that this could be a good opportunity for me to learn," Corona said, shrugging. "I don't need the guards anyway."

"Isn't your mother worried about you?"

"Heh. Far more than she needs to be, really," Corona admitted. "So I'm thankful that she actually listened to me and let me come here."

Dolphin chuckled. "You sure you don't need the guards? Your mother seems to think so, from what I'm hearing," he said. _Okay, I'm doing well so far,_ he thought. _Don't mess this up now._

"Oh, trust me when I say that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Corona replied, smirking. Then her eyes widened. "Ah! And I almost forgot! I also need to help Gale do his work. I apologize, but I'll need to end this now."

"U-Uh, yeah, you too!" Dolphin quickly replied. "So, um...maybe we can meet at a later time? Maaaybbee at the prey center tomorrow?"

"Yes, that sounds lovely," Corona answered, smiling. "Until next time!" she said, and then she swept past him and left.

Dolphin stared at her until she disappeared from view, and then he turned back and continued on his way toward the cave. To be honest, he was actually quite eager to see Corona again.

* * *

 **A/N: So, if anyone has ever read the original story, then they should know that bonus scenes like this aren't a one-time thing. I hope that you don't mind, since I wanted to provide a fresh point of view from another character once in a while. Not a lot happened here, but I still hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.**


	9. Chapter Seven

The following morning, Robin found himself wearily reading through scrolls with Stormseeker. Robin was pretty sure that he only went through about two scrolls, but it felt as if he went through a thousand and that he wasn't about to stop anytime soon. Not while Stormseeker was there.

"Why are we doing this again?" Robin yawned as his eyes trailed down the scroll, barely absorbing any of the words. His eyelids felt like boulders that were about to close down at any second now. He had to force himself to stay awake.

He looked over to Stormseeker, who was holding a scroll in his hand. He didn't look tired at all. In fact, he looked quite normal. Everything seemed to be in place. His dark blue-black scales didn't seem to be any paler or any darker, he suddenly wasn't talkative or bouncy, and the black ribbon that was wrapped around his arm was still there.

"This is really important, so we might as well sweep through the scrolls to find out as much as we can," Stormseeker said.

 _Of course,_ Robin thought. As much as he really wanted to find out what's going on and stop the bad guys and all that, they certainly didn't have to get up _this_ early! The sun was barely up and Robin still felt tired and exhausted and all he wanted to do was go to _sleep_!

 _Who wakes up this early anyway?_ Robin asked himself. _Not me, that's for sure! Can't I go to sleep? Pleaase tell me I can go sleep now. Would Stormseeker be bothered with it? I hope he's not bothered with it. What if I look like a zombie for the rest of the day? What if I accidentally fall asleep in class?_

"You know," Stormseeker said suddenly, "if you're feeling tired, then you could always just head back to the cave and rest up."

That alone was enough to shock Robin awake. "Wait a minute...are you…?" Robin asked. Almost at once, worried thoughts flooded into his head.

"If you're going to ask me if I'm a mind reader, then no, I'm not," Stormseeker replied, and Robin relaxed himself a bit at that. "If I was, then I would've had silver teardrop-shaped scales by my eyes. And besides, it wasn't hard to tell that you were tired judging by the way your eyelids were drooping."

 _Oh,_ Robin thought. "I wasn't _that_ tired," he said, giving Stormseeker a sheepish grin. "I just needed to _use the sleep_ for a little bit, that's all."

Stormseeker snorted.

Robin hesitated, and then he looked back toward the scroll he was reading. "Soooo…" he said. He quickly tried to think about something to say. This was one of the first few chances that he had to get to know Stormseeker more. He didn't want to seem awkward or anything to him. He took the first question that he thought of and asked, "Do you do this often?"

Stormseeker looked at him.

"I mean, you know, waking up early and all of that. I mean—well—not that I'm _judging_ you or anything! In fact, I think it's nice that you wake up early, since, y'know, it's so—is that a trashy romance story?"

Stormseeker immediately rolled the scroll back up and set it down under his talons. Much to Robin's surprise, Stormseeker looked flustered. "No, it's not," Stormseeker said. "It was just something I thought looked interesting. And yes, I _do_ do this a lot."

Robin was still pretty sure that Stormseeker _was_ reading some kind of trashy romance story. He recognized the title, which was printed out in a big font at the top. He remembered that he found a copy of the scroll once in Aunt Falcon's room, and he only read a little bit of it before he stopped and tried to erase it from his memory, in which he was unsuccessful.

What was it called again? _Thick Swords_ or something? Robin didn't think that the school library would really offer a scroll like that, so he was almost certain that Stormseeker had brought it with him on his way to the academy. That story was so _lewd_.

Not that that mattered, of course, so Robin decided to push the thought to the back of his mind.

Quietly he thought about what else to ask of Stormseeker. He didn't know what to ask and he was pretty sure that Stormseeker would probably just dodge whatever question he asked about the story he was just reading.

 _What did Eis talk about again?_ Robin wondered. Eis knew of some animi, and she mentioned something about a dragon named Shadehunter. She even suspected that he had a connection to him as well.

If Robin remembered correctly, then Stormseeker had not reacted well to the implication that he had something to do with Shadehunter. But that was the only thing that he could really come up with right now. And besides, maybe Stormseeker won't be _too_ bothered about it now. Right? Robin definitely hoped so.

"So, Stormseeker...about Shadehunter," Robin began. He noticed that Stormseeker froze up almost at once. Robin's heart sank and he began to feel discouraged, but he had already began talking. He might as well finish what he wanted to say. "What do you know about him?" he asked.

Stormseeker didn't say a word for a few moments, and Robin was worried that he might have accidentally upset him. But then Stormseeker let out a sigh and answered, "I've heard about him, but I never met him. I only know that he was an animus dragon who suddenly disappeared a few years ago."

"But why?" Robin questioned curiously. He wondered why any animus just suddenly disappear without a trace. Didn't they still want to help their tribe with their powers? Really, why would any dragon just disappear right into thin air? It was almost as if they never existed in the first place.

 _The same could go to your parents, too,_ his brain reminded him. As soon as that thought came into mind, Robin began to think more about his parents. _They_ disappeared as well. But Robin didn't know if _they_ had anything to do with Shadehunter.

"No one really knows," Stormseeker shrugged. "He just left one day and he never came back. It probably isn't that important anyway. We've been doing just fine without him, and we certainly don't need him _now_."

Robin caught a hint of remorse and bitterness in Stormseeker's eyes. This was a look that Robin had seen often in Aunt Falcon whenever they talked about his parents. This was a look that made Robin feel as if Stormseeker really knew more about Shadehunter than he was letting on.

He eyed the NightWing for a moment. Stormseeker took another scroll out of one of the racks and unrolled it, beginning to read it. After a few moments, Robin looked back down at his own paper.

Was Stormseeker really telling the truth about how much he knew? Robin had the aching, suspicious feeling that he wasn't. But then again, why would Stormseeker lie about this? He was introverted and solitary, but Robin didn't want to think that he had something to hide.

Or maybe Stormseeker was introverted and solitary _because_ he had something to hide, and Robin was just ignorant to that the entire time.

Once again, worried thoughts rushed right into his mind. Did he miss something about Stormseeker that could've been critical to trying to solve this mystery? Did he doom the entire mission from the start? No, that can't be right. Nothing _too_ bad happened already. But what if it will and it's all his fault?

Robin quickly caught his thoughts. _Okay, okay, you can still do this,_ he thought. There was still time to try and figure this out and he will _not_ mess this up. He can still be the hero he wants to be and he _will_ be the hero he wants to be!

He just needed to figure a few things out. And once he does, the bad guys will all be sorry that they even _thought_ about doing wrong!

But first, he needed to do some more investigating. He could probably try to eavesdrop on his teachers if he could just catch them at the right time. He looked back towards Stormseeker. Maybe he could try to figure out _him_ , too.

 _What are you hiding?_

* * *

Professor Runesearcher's class had just begun. Today's class was supposed to fit in two winglets today today, as this time Robin's winglet was having class with the Jade Winglet. While Robin thought he might be kind of interested to see how the Jade Winglet dragons are, he was mainly focused on Runesearcher.

Runesearcher was back to his usual annoyed and grumpy self, but Robin couldn't keep himself from wondering if Runesearcher was really thinking about something else besides the class. Now that Robin knew that he had something to do with the two dragons who were planning something, he found it hard to see Runesearcher the way he used to.

He thought about how much Professor Runesearcher knew. Surely he had been trying to do as much inspecting around for the mystery as much as Robin had been trying to do. Does he know more than Robin ever will? If so, does that mean that Robin should just leave the entire case to him, Singe, and Clam?

Robin certainly didn't _want_ to do that. What was the harm in trying to help, after all? From what he heard, Singe, Runesearcher, and Clam didn't actually know _that_ much about what was happening. Maybe Robin could be able to help them and provide extra information.

But on the other talon, Robin wasn't exactly sure if they would appreciate a dragonet like him getting into a dangerous situation. But that was what heroes usually were, right? Young dragons who get thrown into dangerous situations and they come out of those situations alive! Well, in the scrolls Robin read, but he hoped that it wouldn't be that different in real life.

He had the cape and he had the determination. He can do this.

Then Robin looked up and looked over toward the class entrance, which a SeaWing had just passed through. Her scales and eyes were a dark shade of emerald green and she had a thin body. She wore an outgoing smile on her face and her entire posture shouted 'confident!' A brown bag also bounced along her side as she hopped into the room.

The rest of the class turned to stare at her. Class had just barely begun, but this SeaWing was still late. Professor Runesearcher let out a sigh and he looked over to the dark green SeaWing impatiently.

"Hey," said the SeaWing with a smile on her face. "This, uh, this is class, right? I'm pretty sure I'm looking for a grumpy salt-spitting NightWing."

At both of his sides, Robin heard Dolphin and Yerba let out stifled giggles. Robin looked to the other side of the classroom and saw Eis roll her eyes while Muskrat gave a wide smile. Cotinga's scales slightly turned yellow and Stormseeker let out a small groan.

"Truly an amazing observation," Runesearcher said drily. "Just go ahead and take your seat, Miss Emerald."

Emerald gave him an innocent smile. "Of course, professor," she said, and then she went to sit behind Robin and next to the Jade Winglet IceWing. Robin turned his head to look at her, and he saw her take off her bag while she quietly teased the IceWing.

The IceWing was rather large and well-built. His scales had a light silver tint to them, but the one thing that Robin was focused on was that he had a blue scar that started at his neck, dragged along his side, and ended at his leg.

Robin blinked at it for a moment, wondering where he got that. He felt a sudden shock of embarrassment as Emerald turned toward him. At that, the IceWing did the same and he looked down at Robin with narrowed, stormy gray eyes.

Robin immediately turned away and he looked back towards Dolphin, pretending that he wasn't staring. He could feel the IceWing's glare burning into his scales. Somehow, it felt worse than when Eis was glaring at him. But then again, that was probably because he was more used to that.

"Aw, come on, Coldfront, give 'im a break," Emerald said behind him. "I'm just _sure_ he didn't mean to stare."

Robin didn't look back to see Coldfront's reaction. _Please leave me alone._ Robin repeated that thought over and over again in his head rapidly. _Please leave me alone please leave me alone please leave me alone please leave me alone please leave m—_

It was then that Robin no longer felt the hard gaze of Coldfront's eyes on him. He let out a quiet sigh of relief. He didn't know Coldfront very well, but just from that, Robin was pretty sure that he was even more intimidating than Eis had been.

He ended up trying to ignore the IceWing and instead doing his best to keep his attention to the professor's words and the lesson.

"Well, he seems kinda _cold_ , huh?" Yerba whispered humorously, leaning in closer to him. Robin stifled a giggle, and he wondered if the IceWing behind him heard it.

"Bet he's _snow_ fun, too," the SandWing snickered. Now Robin really had to refrain himself from laughing, but Professor Runesearcher made his job a lot easier by giving him a sideways glare that wiped the smile off of his face.

Robin noticed Yerba immediately straightening herself and getting back to work. Deciding that Robin didn't want to make Runesearcher any more annoyed than he usually was, Robin kept his eyes down on his paper, listening to every word.

After class, Robin caught up with Dolphin and Yerba.

"Runesearcher being just as irritated as ever," Dolphin sighed. "Wonderful."

"You're saying that like it's something new," Yerba said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dolphin said. "But come on, why does he have to be that grumpy? It's like he swallowed a ton of salt when he was younger and never got it out of his system."

Yerba laughed. "Okay, you're probably right about that," she said. Robin grinned, amused. He wouldn't be surprised if that actually was true. Professor Runesearcher certainly acted like it. Maybe he should try to find out after solving the mystery.

"Hey there."

Robin stopped and turned around, and a few seconds later Dolphin and Yerba did the same.

The dark green SeaWing that Robin had seen in class was approaching him, but thankfully, her IceWing friend wasn't there with her. Or at least, Robin thought that they were friends. Were they friends? Hopefully, because then it'd tell him that Coldfront probably wasn't as intimidating as he seemed to be. Hey, just like Eis! Maybe he could—

"You left this behind during class," Emerald said, holding up a scroll. Robin realized that it was the scroll he had used to take notes, and he smiled in embarrassment as he took the scroll into his talons.

"And sorry if you noticed my friend looking at you," Emerald said, giving him an apologetic smile. "Especially if you felt a little uncomfortable by it. Coldfront doesn't really have the best social skills, but I promise when I say that he tries. Well, not to the _best_ of his ability, but he still tries."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm sure he tries!" Robin said. He knew what it felt like to try and make friends. "I hope that your friend ends up making more, well, friends!" he said. "And if he's having trouble, I can be his friend!"

Emerald snickered. "Sure you can," she said. She looked over to Yerba and Dolphin. "And you must be this fellow's friends, huh?" she asked.

"Yup, totally, Em! Your name was Emerald, right?" asked Yerba. "Because I don't know about you, but Runesearcher might have already said your name in class."

"Yes, it was Emerald," the SeaWing replied.

"Nice to meet you, then!" Yerba said. "You seem like a pretty cool dragon."

"Right back atcha, Sandy," Emerald said. She looked over to Dolphin. "And who are you?"

"Oh, you're talking about me," Dolphin said. He sounded rather surprised that Emerald would ask him who he was. "I'm Dolphin. Short and sweet, huh?" he asked.

"Sure it is. About as short and sweet as it can get!" she grinned. "Anyway, I gotta go now. I have to make sure that Coldfront isn't going to go cause any trouble for anyone else. See ya!" Then with that, the SeaWing turned and left, her steps having a certain kind of hop in it. Her bag bounced up and down as she left.

"Well, _she_ certainly seemed outgoing," Stormseeker commented as he and Eis stepped up next to them.

"Certainly more than you," Yerba teased the NightWing, shooting him a broad smile.

Stormseeker rolled his eyes but Robin noticed a small smile spreading across his face. "Sure," the blue-black NightWing replied.

Robin beamed at them. It seemed as if his efforts to get Stormseeker to open up was going to pay off sometime soon. "So what did you think of class today?" Robin asked them curiously. It wasn't the best, but it was probably the only way that he could think up of to start up a conversation with them.

"The same as usual," Eis shrugged. "Even with us sharing the class with another winglet, it didn't change much," she said. " _I'm_ only just glad that they didn't distract me from doing my work. Otherwise I would've reported them right to the professor." She slightly raised her chin, letting out a snort of contempt.

"Do you _always_ have to be so serious?" Yerba asked her.

"Why?" Eis asked. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," the SandWing answered. "It's just that it makes you seem kind of _Eis_ cold."

"Well," Eis said, "I just— _wait a minute_."

Dolphin and Robin laughed. Robin turned his head to look over at Stormseeker and, much to his joy, he saw that Stormseeker's smile grew slightly wider at Yerba's joke.

Eis gave an irritated growl at this. "Yerba, you're the worst," she said.

"Aw, now you're just hurting my feelings, princess," Yerba chuckled. "I will think about this day and night."

"Don't give me that tone!" Eis snapped, which made Robin giggle. "I can and I _will_ strangle you if that wasn't against school rules!"

"And what are you gonna do from all the way down there, huh?" Yerba teased.

"I—well I _never_ —!" Eis sputtered. Her face flushed blue and Robin now knew that Yerba totally flustered her. "Once my mother hears about such _blatant disrespect_ , you'll be—"

"Alright, that's enough," Stormseeker said sternly, but Robin thought he could detect a hint of amusement in his voice. "Let's break this up now and let's head on over to the prey center. You can yell at each other all you want there and, if we're lucky, no one will notice."

"Excuse me, but I wasn't _yelling_ ," Eis sniffed. "I was simply _stating my displeasure_."

"Sure," Stormseeker said in a bland tone.

"Guys, can we just go?" Dolphin asked them. "I remembered that I have to meet with someone during the prey center today!"

"Oh! Well, if that's the case, then off to the prey center we gooo!" Robin said, and he then took off towards the prey center. He could hear Eis shouting behind him, but he didn't slow down.


	10. Chapter Eight

When they entered the prey center, the first thing Robin looked for was a nice goat to eat. He had to admit to himself that he was _very_ hungry and he wanted to get something to eat! _Should I get something big?_ he thought. _Would that make me seem kind of weird to eat something big? Maybe I'm just in the mood to eat something big. But I'm not in the mood to eat something small either. A goat sounds nice. But what if that's too much for me to eat? Hmm...maybe I'm not as hungry as I thought I was. But I'm pretty sure I am._

"Hey, Robin," Dolphin said. Robin looked over to the SeaWing curiously. "I'm going to go hang out with Corona today. I mean, I made a promise to her that I'd see her today at the prey center, and I thought that, you know, you _might_ wanna come since the others probably won't appreciate me trying to, er, ask them to, uh, you know what? Just tell me if you want to come with me or not."

"Er...sure!" Robin said, beaming at him. He didn't want his friend to be by himself, and he felt as if talking to Corona could end up being quite interesting. Maybe he could even become her friend! _That_ certainly sounded like a good idea!

"Hey, guys," Robin said. He looked over to Yerba, Stormseeker, and Eis. "We're going to go talk to Corona, okay?"

"To gather more information about her, I hope?" Eis asked him. "I'm _expecting_ you to make yourself useful again, you know. If you're not, then you _know_ the consequences."

"Um...sure?" Robin said. He didn't know what exactly he _could_ learn about the princess. Okay, so maybe a lot, but Eis clearly wanted him to learn the _important_ things. What counted as important to her? Robin hoped it was anything but Corona's sleeping schedule.

"Right...well, see ya later!" Yerba said to Robin. "And don't forget to tell us all the juicy stuff, 'kay?" she asked them.

Robin nodded. "Alright, I will!" he said.

"Just be sure to be back as soon as possible," Stormseeker said, and then with that, the three other dragons left.

"So, where do you think Corona is?" Robin asked Dolphin.

Dolphin frowned. "Oh…," he said. "Okay, I'll admit that I really have _no_ idea where she could be," he said. "I mean, of _course_ I put thorough thought into this! It's just that I didn't think I might need to find out where she is!"

"So you wanted to go meet her here and you don't even know where she is?" Robin asked. He tilted his head at him, blinking.

"I…," Dolphin said. He paused, and then he sighed, shoulders slumping. "Yup, that sounds just about right."

"I give my expression of greeting! I feel sure of the truth that I am in the company of the previously mentioned dragon!"

Robin saw Gale approaching them. Gale had a broad smile and a slight hop in his steps as he came up to them. Robin gave the slightly taller SkyWing a smile. At least he could recognize Gale by his speech. Truth be told, Robin actually kind of liked the way that Gale spoke. It was really something unique.

Then there she was. Corona stepped up next to Gale and she sent Robin and Dolphin a rather pleasant, sweet smile. "Unless I'm mistaken, that dragon is _me_ ," she said.

Dolphin squinted at her. His eyes trailed all the way down to her feet before they came back up to her eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't know...the dragon I was talking about had yellower scales than _that_."

Corona laughed. "And what was the name of the dragon _I'm_ supposed to be meeting again?" she asked. "Porpoise?"

"Actually," Robin said, "his name is Dol—"

"Yes, I know," Corona chuckled. "So, Dolphin, I see you've brought your friend here."

"Yeah," Dolphin replied, nodding at her.

"I'm Robin!" he said. He beamed brightly at Corona and Gale. Was he making a good impression so far? He wondered if he was coming off as too bright and happy. _Was_ he too bright and happy? Robin didn't want to seem like that. True, he didn't want to seem all sad and grumpy either, but sometimes he felt as if most dragons didn't appreciate it whenever he acted like this, which he _hoped_ wasn't true.

"Ooh," Gale said. "It appears as if the dragons who have given life to you desired to have your designation based off of the thrush with the reddish breast!"

Robin looked towards Corona, and the SkyWing gave him an apologetic look while saying, "He means to say 'It seems as if your parents wanted to name you after the robin.'"

"Oh," said Robin. He looked back at Gale. "Well, then, in that case, yup! That's totally true! They definitely did name me after the robin!"

"Hm...I now accept it as truth that your designation is endearing and appealing to the point where other dragons must make a gesture of pleasure whenever they hear it!" Gale said.

"He means to say that he believes that your name is cute to the point where other dragons will probably squeal whenever they hear it," Corona said.

"Oh! Well in that case, thank you!" Robin said. He felt his face slightly heat up at the compliment, especially with the way it was said, but he at least wanted Gale to know that he was happy that he didn't think that his name was weird or anything.

"I give you my verbal polite response to your gratitude!" Gale said. He had a wide grin on his face and for some reason Robin found it to be very endearing and, to be frank, quite adorable.

"Well, now it wouldn't do to just stay around here," Corona said. "Why don't we go and get something to eat? There's plenty of good food around here."

So that was what they agreed on. They went to find something to eat (and much to Robin's pleasure, he managed to get his hands on a fat boar) and then they chose a place to sit.

Robin didn't say anything much while Corona, Gale, and Dolphin talked. He felt as if it was awkward to not be hanging out with the others. Sure, at least Dolphin was here with him, but where would Robin even begin to talk to Corona and Gale? It was easy to talk to Dolphin and the others, but when it came to new dragons…well, he was a bit awkward.

He also remembered that Eis wanted him to find something out about Corona. He couldn't figure out _what_ Eis wanted or how to even begin to find out something about Corona without sounding creepy or weird, which was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to seem.

"It appears as if you are dreamily detaching your mind from reality," Gale suddenly said. Robin jumped, tightening his grip on the boar, and then he gave Gale an awkward smile. Gale tilted his head at him. "Are you currently in a state of monotony and lethargy?" he asked.

Robin wanted to just shrink down to an unbelievably tiny size when he noticed Corona and Dolphin turn their heads at him. The dark red SkyWing held his cape against himself. "I'm fine!" he said. "Nothing wrong here! Nope! I am just as good of a state as any state! Meaning that I'm in a good state! I am a very good dragon who is in a very good mood!"

Corona raised a brow at him, and Robin gave her a wide grin, hoping that she would just turn away from him and turn her attention back towards Dolphin.

Then, much to his relief, the princess shrugged and said, "If you say so. But if you need any help, then you know you could always ask me or another one of your friends."

"Oh yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind!" Robin said. Then he quickly returned to eating his boar. He swore that he could feel Gale's gaze still on him, but he didn't want to look up to find out.

Instead, Robin tried to listen in to Corona's and Dolphin's conversation.

Well, until he noticed Eis glaring at him from across the room.

Eis had her dark blue eyes narrowed at him and as she noticed him looking at her, she mouthed something to him. Robin squinted and he tilted his head at her. Eis looked seconds away from facepalming right now, but instead she mouthed something to him again.

Once more, Robin couldn't quite figure out what she was trying to say. He tilted his head at her a little more and Eis furiously pointed towards Corona. Robin looked at Corona, who had just told Dolphin a bad joke and was now laughing in embarrassment, and then he looked back to Eis.

Eis bared her teeth at him and then she whipped her head to look at Yerba and Stormseeker. Robin watched as she tapped Yerba's shoulder and made the SandWing look over to Robin, which in turn caused Stormseeker to do the same. Eis said something to Yerba, and the SandWing gave her a smile and stood up and began walking over to them.

He didn't quite know how to feel when Yerba came over. "Hey, guys," Yerba greeted gaily. "What's going on here now? It looked as if you were having fun."

Corona looked up at Yerba with a warm smile on her face. "Oh, yes, we are," she said to the SandWing. "Actually...I think I might have seen you around here before. If it's not too much of a bother for me to ask, what's your name?"

"Name's Yerba," she answered. "I'm Dolphin's and Robin's friend."

"Wow!" Gale said. He sounded genuinely amazed. "Robin seems to show friendliness and have such affectionate feelings be returned so easily! I wish that I could have as many dragons to form a mutual bond of affection with!"

"I'm sure you'll find another dragon someday," Corona said to Gale.

"Y'know, if it's friends he's looking for, then _I_ can be his friend," said Yerba.

Gale's eyes lit up and Corona looked mildly delighted. "Thank you," Corona said to Yerba. "I'm sure that you would make a very fine friend to Gale."

"Of course I will be!" Yerba said, and she put on a shining smile. "By the way, I think it's time for Robin to go, if you don't mind. Another one of our friends wants to see him."

Okay, so maybe it _was_ a bad thing that Yerba came here, because Robin was pretty sure that that 'friend' meant Eis, and that Eis really wasn't in the best of moods right now. But he supposed that right now he really couldn't do anything about it.

"Well, see ya!" Robin said as he got up. Realizing that he hadn't quite finished the boar yet, he quickly ate the last pieces before going with Yerba to Eis.

Needless to say, Eis did not look pleased in the slightest when she saw him.

"Why were you just fooling around over there?" she hissed at him. "You were supposed to be gathering information!"

"Information about _what?_ " Robin asked. To be fair, Eis did not clearly specify what she wanted him to find out and he didn't want to sound very probing or creepy to Corona either and not only that, but he was also very awkward when socializing with new dragons! What did Eis _expect_ him to do? Masterfully piece his words together and somehow charm Corona into giving him all the details about her personal life?

As if that would happen!

"You should _know_ that already!" Eis snapped at him.

"Me? I don't know anything! I mean, not in the way that I'm stupid or anything, but you just didn't tell me what you wanted me to find out!" Robin said.

"He _does_ have a point," Stormseeker spoke up. He didn't look at any of them and instead kept his eyes down on the cow that he was eating. "You can't always expect him to know what you want."

"Yeah, Eis, that _is_ true," Yerba said. "Come on, this is _Robin_ we're talking about here."

"Yeah! I—wait, what was _that_ supposed to mean?" Robin asked, narrowing his eyes at Yerba.

"Nnnnnever mind," Yerba said. "All I just want to say is that you're expecting a lot from him."

"I believe that my expectations of him were clear enough and that he was too slow to understand it!" Eis said. She huffed. "In the Ice Kingdom, we—"

"But we're _not_ in the Ice Kingdom right now," Yerba said to Eis. "We're in Jade Mountain and we're supposed to make friends here. Maybe that was what Robin was trying to do. Befriend Corona so we could have her help in the future."

" _Befriend?_ " Eis asked. She rolled her eyes as if it was the most ridiculous word in the world. "When there are lives at stake here, we don't have time to _fool around_ and _make friends_ with other dragons! We should be focusing on trying to find out what we can about this and trying to _solve_ it!"

"Now what's got you so worked up?" Stormseeker asked. Still, he didn't turn his gaze to any of the dragons. Robin would've thought that he was simply disinterested in the conversation had he not spoken up.

"It's just that it's been far too long since we found out anything new," Eis replied. "So maybe we should try to focus on that instead of _wasting our time_."

"Look, Eis, we've been trying our best," Yerba said to her.

"Well I better hope so!" the IceWing growled. "Or else we might as well start digging our own graves!"

Robin stared at Eis, wondering what has her worked up this time. He wondered if he did something wrong. Well, clearly he didn't do what Eis _wanted_ him to do, but surely she had to understand, right? Eis probably could've gathered some more information about Corona if she did it herself instead of sending good old socially awkward _him_ to talk to her.

He knew that if he didn't try to fix his mistake, then whatever progress he made in befriending Eis would probably be erased. And what was he going to do about _that_?


	11. Bonus Scene: Eis Cold (Pt 1)

"Hey, Eis, are you feeling alright?" Cotinga asked Eis that night, when it was time to go to sleep. Muskrat was already sleeping, his chest heaving rhythmically as he mumbled a few words in his sleep.

"Yes, I'm _fine_ ," Eis replied as she waved a talon dismissively.

"Are you sure?" Cotinga said skeptically. "Like, really sure?"

"Yes, I'm _sure_ ," Eis said.

Cotinga gave Eis a reluctant look, but then she lowered her head and went to sleep. Or at least, Eis hoped that she was asleep.

Eis stared down at the sketch of a wolf, illuminated by a single candle in the otherwise dark cave. Below the picture was all kinds of fascinating information about wolves. She had just gotten a scroll about canines from the library. Dovekie gladly gave Eis the scroll about canines.

Truthfully, Eis found canines to be one of the most appealing creatures in Pyrrhia. They came in so many shapes and sizes and Eis couldn't help but feel interested and intrigued by them. Not to mention how absolutely _adorable_ they are, which was unfortunate, considering that Eis didn't see them very often in the Ice Kingdom.

But not even the sketch of one of the cutest, most majestic creatures to ever walk the lands of Pyrrhia could subside her frustration.

It felt as if it's been years since they found something that was new and _useful_. And yet she felt as if she was the only one who was actually trying to do anything about it! And that was absolutely _infuriating_ considering the fact that actual lives were at stake here!

But Eis _did_ have to admit to herself (and _only_ to herself) that there _was_ another reason why she wanted to do this.

She knew that this could actually be a good chance to prove her worth. If she could stop a murder from happening at the school, then that had to be worthy of _some_ praise, right? After all, it did require a certain amount of hard work and intelligence to be able to do something like this.

However, she wasn't sure if her parents would exactly be pleased or impressed in the slightest if she ended up saving a dragon from another tribe, specifically Corona. She knew that they didn't care much for dragons from the other tribes.

Was it wrong for her to hope that the possible victim would be another IceWing?

 _Okay, yes,_ Eis answered herself. It really did sound quite wrong now that she thought about it to herself, but if she managed to save another dragon of her own tribe, then maybe it gave her a higher chance of impressing her parents. Even if it was North (who was one of the most annoying dragons in Eis' opinion, so she was glad she managed to get rid of him from her side), Eis would still save him if he was in danger.

But then again, even if Eis did end up saving someone, her parents will most definitely be disappointed in her for allowing herself to be allied with dragons from other tribes. But surely they would have to understand, right? Her parents loved her, and she was almost certain that they would listen to her.

Well, not that they had showed her much affection in the past couple of years, but she knew that they still loved her, and she loved them.

She remembered the first year and a half of her life. She was younger and more naive and optimistic then. Her mother and father showered her with affection and gave her anything she wanted, and they complimented everything she did. Back then was when Eis decided that her parents loved her so much.

But then, after the first year and the half, they stopped showing her so much affection. They started putting so much work on her shoulders and they started to be much harsher and stricter with their teachings. They put a much stronger emphasis on discipline and how important it was for her to succeed.

The change had been so sudden that Eis was hardly able to keep up with all of the work and pressure that was suddenly being thrown at her. She figured that hopefully her parents would figure out that she needed time to adjust to the change and take things one step at a time, and then she would go back to being the spoiled, loved dragonet of theirs, even if she was just a little less spoiled.

But of course that didn't happen.

While she was too slow to handle everything they were throwing at her, they assaulted her with stony, disappointed faces. She remembered the first time she received that look from them. It was _horrible_. It made her feel a wide pit in her chest that didn't felt so, so _wrong_. Was this how Aurora felt every second? Surely not, because then surely Aurora would've done something to stop her parents from looking at her that way.

Eis quickly decided that she better shape herself up to the standards of her mother and father or else she would've ended up exactly like Aurora. She was _nothing_ like her sister! Aurora was so disobedient, so uncaring. Eis didn't want her parents to look at her that way.

So she forced herself to push herself past her limits and reach the goals her parents set for her.

And then once again, her parents were back to loving her.

What was she talking about? Her parents just went back to spoiling her. They had _always_ loved her. She just needed to please them, and they would show just how much they truly loved her. Aurora never pleased them or made them happy, which was why they didn't love her and didn't show any love for her.

Her father told her that she was lucky.

Of course, sometimes Sleet and Snowdust would suddenly stop showing her affection and giving her presents. Sometimes they would tell Eis exactly what she did wrong and sometimes they wouldn't. Either way, it was up to Eis to fix herself where she went wrong.

But sometimes they didn't want her to fix herself. When Eis was two years old, she always wanted to be a singer. She wanted to be on a stage, singing to her heart's content. She practiced her singing day and night, and whenever she asked for an opinion from the servant's, they always told her that her voice was beautiful.

Queen Snowdust told Eis that her voice sounded like a walrus being strangled to death and that she should just give up her dream on being a singer. Sleet had agreed, adding in that being a singer was a waste of time for Eis anyway.

So Eis was two years old when she lost her dream.

Not that it mattered much anyway. Even if Eis still sometimes practiced her singing and still felt some desire to sing, her parents were right. Singing wasn't particularly impressive or useful, and she needed to put all of her energy into sharpening her mind and improving other skills such as hunting and fighting.

So she did. As she grew older, her skills grew, but every year it seemed as if her parents' standards grew as well.

By the time Eis had her fourth birthday, her parents were never pleased with what she did. They always had some kind of criticism about her, like " _You need to lift your chin higher than that"_ or " _You need to be more swift and more graceful"_ or " _Next time, try to do it faster."_

Every criticism like that made Eis feel terrible and vulnerable, and it always made her wonder even more if she was even worth as much as she always liked to say she was. But even if they pointed out the smallest flaw in what she did, Eis would always work to improve herself.

It was like they didn't love or care about her anymore. But they did, didn't they? They _always_ loved her. It couldn't be that they were just pointing out everything wrong about her just to hurt her. They couldn't be doing that just to make her feel weak and worthless. Because she wasn't. She _wasn't_. Was she? She didn't want to be.

How else could she explain all the days when they showed her that they held so much affection for her? How else could she explain all of the gifts and kind words they had given her on those days?

It wasn't because they thought she was worthless! It wasn't because they thought that everything was wrong with her! They just see a few things wrong and they point them out. They just wanted her to succeed. They just didn't want her to end up as a _weakling_.

So why weren't they happy with her anymore?

Eis knew at once that it was all her fault.

She _needed_ her parents. She needed them to tell her what she was failing at and she'll do it. She owed them too much. She needed to please them in return for all of the affection that she just _knew_ they had for her.

Her parents loved her too much to be purposefully destroying her like this.

Eis had no one but herself to blame for her thousands and thousands of shortcomings and failures. She had no one but herself to blame when her parents exposed her weaknesses to her and punished her for them.

Everything was her fault. Her parents weren't being unfair.

And perhaps it was because of Eis' many failures that her mother gave her a small mirror when she was four years old. " _Look at it every day, whenever you have the chance to,"_ her mother had told her when she gave it to Eis. " _Use it to analyze yourself and reflect about everything wrong with you."_

Eis took her advice and started to look in the mirror every day just to study her reflection.

A year later, when she turned five years old, she decided that she hated her reflection.

It didn't have too much to do with the way she looked. She knew that she was beautiful. A little bit on the shorter side, but still beautiful. Her white, blue-tinted scales were all perfectly clean and sparkly, and her claws were as sharp as ever.

It was just the look in her eyes that bothered her.

There was just something in those dark blue depths that didn't look right to her. It never matched the way she moved with pride and dominance. There was something in those eyes that looked _weak_. They didn't look like huge oceans of passion more than small, quiet lakes.

What was _wrong_ with her? That wasn't who she was. She was Princess Eis, heiress to the throne! Well, just as long as her older sister, Aurora, didn't get it first. But then again, she didn't feel as if she had much to fear from Aurora. Her parents always told her that Aurora was weak and worthless and that was why they neglected Aurora, and Eis believed them.

She caught the nasty looks Aurora often sent her way, and Eis usually returned them. She made sure that her look said, " _If you're so mad about me getting more attention than you, then why don't you do anything about it? You should've listened to Mother and Father more and did what they asked."_

Eis always did what her parents wanted her to do. _Eis do this, Eis do that_. And she always obeyed without question. True, sometimes she did stray from what they wanted, but most of the time it was on accident. She made sure that they weren't displeased with her for as long as possible before she inevitably made another mistake in the next few weeks or so.

She owed them. She knew that they loved her, and she wanted to let them know that she loved them back.

And the look in her eyes didn't help with that. She hated, hated, _hated_ the look in her eyes whenever she looked at her reflection. Eis wished that she could tear them out herself and replace them with new ones. She was afraid that if anyone looked at her eyes for too long, then they will see every single one of her weaknesses in them.

She wished that she had her mirror now. She wished that she had a way to know if her eyes had changed.

Eis was finally snapped out of her thoughts as she realized that her talons were clutching the paper too hard. She had already made tears in it. _Dovekie won't be pleased,_ Eis thought to herself. Oh well. She could apologize to her when she went to go return the scroll in a matter of a few days.

Right now, she needed to focus.

Eis ignored how tired she was and pushed the sketch of the canine away from her, this time pulling out another scroll and unrolling it. There must be something in here.

Her eyelids began to droop, but Eis quickly blinked them awake. Don't fall asleep now, she thought. She still had enough energy to pull through and get through the rest of the scrolls she picked out from the library to find any sign of useful information.

When was the last time she slept? A few days ago? Eis didn't want to think about it now. It wasn't going to help her very much right now, no matter how exhausted and sleepy she felt in class.

Eis grimaced as she remembered that she had almost fallen asleep during Professor Clam's class. Of course, she had quickly caught herself and forced herself to stay away and absorb everything that Professor Clam was teaching them. She knew the kind of lecture she would receive from her parents if she fell asleep in class.

She certainly wasn't going to fall asleep now.

* * *

After finding absolutely nothing in the scrolls that she had read last night, Eis was feeling more than a little frustrated. She was currently in Professor Singe's class, writing down notes to the best of her ability, forcing herself to listen to every single word of the teacher's lesson.

She was working hard.

Yet the moment she gave a sideways glance to see what Robin was doing, she saw him messing around instead of doing his work.

Eis narrowed her eyes at Robin as he showed Dolphin a ridiculous doodle that he had quickly drawn on his paper, and Dolphin snickered and showed Robin what he drew during class even though he was supposed to be taking notes.

Then, of course, later that same day she had to help Muskrat with his reading skills. He had asked her yesterday and Eis, being the kind dragon that she was, agreed to help. Had Eis been in a better mood today, she would've been more pleasant in Muskrat's company while trying to help him, but of course she wasn't, and that ended up with her giving a grumpy, sub-par apology to an upset MudWing.

During lunch she went to go check if her friends were doing what they were supposed to be doing (which meant putting more effort into investigating the mystery), and surprise surprise, they weren't!

Eis was almost sure that if any of these dragons had her parents, then they would constantly be disappointing them.

Well, Yerba, Dolphin, and Robin would, at least. Eis acknowledged the fact that Stormseeker seemed far more responsible than those three dragons combined. She managed to find Stormseeker reading through scrolls in the library earlier today and he told her that he was just reading through some scrolls to see if he could find anything useful, just like what she expected him to do.

She had found the other three just walking down the mountain corridor as they laughed and exchanged bad jokes with one another. They were acting as if there wasn't anything bad or possibly catastrophic that might happen, which only pushed her irritation.

Needless to say, this was the last straw for her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Eis demanded as she approached them. The three dragons stopped talking at once and turned around to look at her. Eis noticed Robin deflate as he saw her. _Good._

"Um...we're talking?" Robin said. "We're talking about a lot of things! So maybe we're not talking about everything and by that I mean we're not talking about every subject in the world, but we're still talking about….stuff! Good stuff! Ehe….yeah, we're just talking."

"Oh, yeah, you're talking alright," Eis snorted. "About things that aren't important! Have you guys been trying to find out who's the murderer, when they're going to attack, and who's going to be killed if we don't do anything about it right now?"

Robin's shoulders somewhat slumped, but he still kept his eyes on her. Eis wanted him to keep them down. She wanted to know if he felt ashamed of slacking off, which he probably wasn't right now.

"Look, Eis, we've been trying our best," Yerba replied. "But we haven't found much yet. We decided that we should, y'know, slow down. We've been working to find out as much as we could about this."

"And just how hard have you been working?" Eis asked sternly.

" _Very_ hard!" Robin promised. His tail started to shake. "We're putting so much effort into this investigation but you know, with school and the fun dragons and the stress that comes with working into this, it just kind of gets hard to keep putting in that much amount of effort! I mean, not that I want to get lazy of course! I was actually planning to—"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" Eis snapped. "You three have been fooling around for far longer than you needed to!"

"Jeez, Eis," Dolphin mumbled. "You know, Robin _is_ kind of right. We can't focus on this one case for too long or else we'll just get way too stressed out. Besides, I really think that we should let Robin finish what he was going to say because—"

"Because what? Because he was going to suggest to go out and talk this out over a few chickens?" Eis interrupted. "Because that certainly sounds like it'll be a load of help."

"I know, Eis," said Robin dejectedly. "But really, I was going to—"

"Stop," Eis said quickly. "I don't care what you have to say. I don't want to hear it. If you're going to do something useful, then you're going to do it now or I'll _make_ you!"

"Eis, calm down!" Yerba exclaimed. "None of us have done anything wrong yet, and especially not Robin."

"Really?" she demanded. " _He_ didn't do _anything_ wrong?"

"Don't you remember that I first found out about this?" Robin asked. He shifted his talons a little bit. "That has to count for something, right? Well, sure, it was by pure accident, but I still found out about it first, right? And wasn't I the one who also found out that our professors were in it, too?"

"That doesn't matter now!" Eis retorted. She knew that it really was true, but it really didn't matter now, did it? "You may have done it before, but you aren't doing it now! You've only do a little bit for us and then slack off for the rest of it!"

"Whoa, Eis, where is all of this coming from?" Dolphin asked.

Eis knew that she was just in a bad mood today. She hadn't slept in quite a while and with all her frustration in not making much further progress, she knew that she was frustrated. But at the same time, she surely had a point here, right? Here she was, working hard, while these three were only wasting time.

And she knew that this was not the kind of company that her parents would want her to keep. If she was going to be in a group with dragons from other tribes, then they would've wanted her to make sure that her multicolored allies were respectable and responsible. Yerba, Dolphin, and Robin were certainly not the kind of dragons they wanted her to be involved with.

But now what could she do? She was stuck with this group and if her mother and father ever found out about them, then they would never show her any love again. Not like the way they did when she was younger.

It was already hard enough to earn their approval, and she didn't need anything to make that even more impossible than it is now. If her parents found out now, then they would lose any love or respect that they had for her and they'll see her as just as worthless as Aurora.

There was no thought that terrified Eis more. Her parents were the most important figures in her life and she wanted them to love her. _Please don't hate me,_ she thought as an image of her mother and father popped into her mind. _I'm sorry if I'm disappointing you by doing this, and I know that I hardly do anything right but I'm trying. Surely you must understand._

 _Are you watching me somehow? Are you disappointed or proud that I'm working so hard to solve this? Or do you think that I've failed all over again?_

 _What would make you happy?_

"Why does it matter to you?" Eis asked in a hostile voice.

"Please, we're your friends," Robin replied. He looked down, not meeting her eyes. "We're trying to help each other and if there's anything wrong that's causing you to say this, then we can fix it."

"The only thing _wrong_ here is _you_!" Eis snapped at him. "You're treating this just like a joke, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm not!" Robin cried. He lifted his head to look at her in the eyes again. "But, you know, I just get caught up in other things, like hanging out with friends and—"

"Friends?" Eis said. How can Robin think about friends at a time like this? At a time where he needs to be doing something productive? And how dare these dragons encourage him, too. "Surely these aren't real friends! These are only dragons who pity you!"

"Pity me?" Robin asked, disconcerted. "Pity me for what?"

"For _everything_!" Eis answered loudly. "I bet that they must know something about you, huh? Something that makes them pity you. Clearly they know that you're a foolish, less-than-mediocre dragon who won't ever go anywhere in life because he's lazy and immature! You are only an emotional charity case and a burden to everyone you come across and that's _all_ you'll ever be!"

Eis took a moment to breathe, and then she glared at him. "Why did your parents keep you?"

Robin flinched, and Yerba immediately went to stand in front of Eis, glaring down at her. Eis didn't back away. She tried to ignore how much larger and stockier Yerba was than her.

"Back off," Yerba growled at her. "I don't know what's got you all riled up like this, but this isn't okay!"

"I'm just telling him how it is," Eis spat.

This time, Yerba grabbed her by the arm and she began dragging her towards somewhere. Eis was startled by the sudden movement and she knew that Yerba wouldn't let her go. She knew that she probably couldn't escape from her grasp, either.

Almost at once, the worst case scenarios began to fill up Eis' mind. What was Yerba planning to do? Surely a SandWing like her is planning something awful. Maybe she was planning to stab her with her tail barb for what she said to Robin.

Oh, if her parents ever found out that she was killed by a measly SandWing then they might as well just throw her body into the ocean instead of giving her a proper funeral. Maybe—

Yerba dragged her into a cave, and Eis looked up. It looked like many of the other caves that the winglet dragonets had to sleep in, and then she realized

It became clear to Eis what Yerba's intentions really were.

"Alright, so now that we're here," Yerba said sternly, "let's talk."

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed this bonus scene! Part two will come later, I promise. I also promise that eventually there are going to be bonus scenes in the POV from the rest of the Falling Five. Writing from Eis' POV was a bit of a challenge for me since I wanted to put some complexity into her thoughts, and I also didn't want to make her too unlikable. What do you think? Reviews are highly appreciated!**


	12. Bonus Scene: Eis Cold (Pt 2)

"Eis, what's the deal?" Yerba demanded. "Why did you snap at him like that?"

"What's _my_ problem?" Eis shouted. "What's _yours_? Why are you trying to defend him like this? Don't you realize how important this is? I would think that I have a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why I am so _frustrated_!"

"Of course we know how important this is," Yerba said. She paused and then admitted, "Okay, so maybe we've been goofing around a little bit, but that doesn't mean that we _don't_ understand. So maybe you do have a good reason to be angry with us, but please hear us out first."

"Hear you out?" Eis echoed, outraged. There was no, _no_ excuse for goofing off. That was what her parents always told her. Work came first and you could play later.

But of course, all SandWings didn't think that way. She remembered her mother telling her about just how dumb the SandWings were. Of course, they must be. What sane dragon would want to live in a dry desert where the sun is scorching their scales all the time? Eis couldn't understand it.

She would expect such idiotic behavior from Yerba, too. Yerba was immature, irresponsible, and almost certainly stupid.

"Yes, hear me _out_ ," Yerba said in a dangerous tone. Before Eis could react, Yerba stabbed her venomous tail toward her face and Eis flinched. Yerba's tail barb was just inches away from Eis' face. "So you better listen before I do something I'll regret."

Eis froze up. _You idiot!_ her brain was shouting at her. _Mother and Father wouldn't want you to just_ stand _there. You need to stand up for yourself. Do it so they won't be disappointed in you_ again _._ But Eis could believe that Yerba would stab her with that tail at any moment. Yerba definitely seemed loud and rough enough to just murder Eis in cold blood.

"I—Eis, are those bags under your eyes?" Yerba asked.

 _No, they're not,_ Eis wanted to say. She bit back the words, since she knew that Yerba would probably insist on it anyway. "Why do you care so much?" Eis snapped at her.

"Eis, I know how much this must mean to you," Yerba said. "It's important, I understand, but look at you! You look like a walking corpse for moons' sake!"

"I do _not!"_ said Eis indignantly. "I look perfectly fine!"

"What?" Yerba said. "Did your parents raise you like this or what?"

It was true that Eis felt exhausted, but it was a feeling that she grew used to. She remembered hours upon hours trying to memorize whatever her parents wanted her to memorize, like history and posture she had to stand in and hunting techniques and all the rules and laws of their tribe.

She spent day and night trying to make sure that she could remember everything well and that she could also be able to perform any physical and mental activity to the best of her ability. Things like " _Stand straight, keep your wings to your side, and put your chest out"_ and " _Make sure that your voice could be heard and understood clearly. Don't stutter"_ were basically drilled into her head right now.

Eis liked to believe that she was a quick learner, but according to her parents, she wasn't quick enough. Now that Eis thought about it, nothing ever turned out right for her on the first try. No matter how carefully she would try not to make a mistake or how much she studied it beforehand, she always got something wrong on the first try.

Of course, that was something that was her fault. Had it not been for her parent's suggestions, she probably would already be at such a low rank right now, which would be shameful for a princess like her. Her parents would surely be eternally disappointed in her. They often warned her about royalty who dropped down to such a low rank and about how they had to live with shame for the rest of their lives. Eis didn't want to be like that.

 _Stop thinking about that,_ Eis thought to herself. _Just focus on the conversation at hand. Make eye contact and make your voice loud and clear._

"My private life is really none of your business," Eis growled at her. "You don't need to know any details about my life and what I do with it! So just leave me alone about this, okay?"

"Eis, when was the last time you slept?" Yerba asked. Her voice was gentler this time and she moved the tail barb away from Eis' face. "Because I don't know about you, but plenty of dragons snap a lot easier when they're tired."

"Oh yeah?" Eis asked. "And I'm sure that _you_ get plenty of sleep, too. I bet that a dragon like you just wants to go off partying all night and not getting any work done! That's what you would do, isn't it?"

"Eis, I'm...a more responsible dragon than you think I am," Yerba frowned. "I don't think about doing that once while I'm at school, I promise."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Eis demanded.

"Because then I'd be just as tired as you are," Yerba said. "If I didn't know you well enough, then I would've assumed you were out partying all night."

"How dare you!" Eis said. "That is not remotely true!"

"I know it isn't," Yerba replied. "So come on, Eis. Tell me what your feelings are exactly and I'll try to help."

"How can _you_ , of all dragons, help me?" Eis demanded. She didn't think that Yerba could be that kind of dragon for her.

Yerba shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I might end up surprising you. Just give me a chance, Eis."

The IceWing gave her a wary look, and then she sighed. She guessed that she can't ignore her like she wanted to. She knew that her parents probably wouldn't be pleased if they ever learned that she was talking to a SandWing like this. They warned her about SandWings and how greedy they were, and she knew that Yerba could easily use brute strength on her if she wanted something of hers.

"Fine," Eis muttered. "It's just that I feel as if I'm the only dragon who actually cares about this. Every time I turn around, all of you are just wasting whatever valuable time we may have left." Eis felt as if that they didn't even care about the dragon who could lose their life because of this.

But then again, there _was_ another reason to it. Investigating a possible murder and actually stopping it would be amazing, and it would surely impress a lot of dragons. Eis could seem like a _heroine_ to them. A hero was something that Eis always wanted to be. She wanted to be the best dragon that she could be and she wanted other dragons to look at her that way.

She _especially_ wanted her parents to look at her that way. Eis understood, from personal experience, that it was hard to gain their approval. She was hoping that maybe this could finally get them to see just how hard she's been working and how great she could really be.

Maybe then, they could look at her the way they used to back when she was just a year old. They would look at her with the love and affection they used to give her and they would realize that she had not 'degraded in quality' or anything like that. She was still the loving, successful daughter that they surely always knew. And once she was succeeded with this, then they'll start treating her like that again.

...Wouldn't they?

For some reason, Eis felt as if that this wouldn't go the way that she wanted it to...but still, she had to try, right? Especially if no one else will.

"Alright, Eis," said Yerba. "I promise that, really, we're trying to focus on the case as much as possible. And it's great that you're taking it seriously! There's nothing wrong with that but...well, it's just that you're kind of...to put it in a _friendly_ way, _mean_."

"And what do you mean by that?" Eis asked.

"Not friendly, uncooperative, likes to chew other dragons out for no reason, the usual," Yerba said.

"Excuse me, but if what you meant by 'chewing other dragons out for no reason' was about Robin, then I'll have you know that I did not 'chew him out' for no reason," Eis said. "In fact, I believe that I had every right to do so! He was just lazing around with you guys when there is something important going on!"

"Actually, he was planning to go do some more investigating tonight," Yerba said. "He had a plan for what he wanted to do for that, but you cut him off before he could tell you anything about it."

Eis opened her mouth slightly, and then she closed it. She tried to ignore the small worm of guilt that was now squirming around in her stomach. Was that really what he was going to tell her before she shouted at him?

But still, surely she was still justified in berating him, right?

"Eis, please, you shouldn't do that to your friends," Yerba said.

"Friends?" Eis scoffed. She didn't want to show Yerba the growing feeling of guilt that she felt. "I didn't come here to make friends!"

"Then what _did_ you come here for?" Yerba asked. "You don't strike me as the type who would just leave her home behind just to come to a place full of dragons from other tribes."

She thought about it. What Yerba said _was_ true. Eis was actually quite wary at first of arriving here, and she definitely missed the Ice Kingdom. She missed the snow and the beautiful palace she lived in and the way that everything there seemed so wonderful and pretty without going overboard. But there was certainly something that she _wanted_ by coming here.

"Okay, so maybe I _did_ come here to become friends with someone," Eis admitted. North didn't count. He wasn't a _bad_ dragon, but he got on her nerves a lot.

"Then why are you acting like this to dragons who actually want to get to know you?" Yerba questioned. "It's not going to be the end of the world to even try to open up to them more. They all want to get to know you, me included."

"Well, it's just a skill that I was never taught," Eis replied. "Befriending other dragons has never been at the very top of my priority list, see. I usually have more important things to do than that."

"If that's the case, then now you have time," Yerba said.

"What about the mystery?" Eis asked.

"Eis, when was the last time you've slept?" Yerba questioned. Eis felt her heart drop at that. She was afraid that she was going to ask her that.

"So...it may have been a _while_ since I've slept," she answered. It wasn't as if she could just sleep easily knowing that a dragon could just pop out and murder someone else at any point in time. "What happens if I'm sleeping? I could probably miss something that would be very critical to solving this mystery."

"Look, Eis," Yerba said. "It's probably best if you slow down, even for just a little bit. I know that this is important. I understand why you're so serious about this, but you're not going to help anyone if you wear yourself out like this."

"But—" Eis began.

" _No_ ," Yerba interrupted. "You're going to get some rest whether you like it or not. You _have_ to. I'm sure that you just don't want anyone to die while you know that it might happen, and I understand. It's not wrong to want to help others. In fact, it's great! But taking care of yourself isn't bad, either. It's _okay_ to take care of yourself and make sure that you're alright. It's not selfish and no one is going to drop dead the moment that you slow down."

Eis blinked at her. That wasn't something that she heard everyday. Really, she was pretty sure that she never heard anyone say it to _her_ before. And she did have to admit to herself that Yerba had a point. She couldn't perform to the best of her ability when she's tired, can she? Besides...Mother and Father weren't here, right? They won't find out about this.

 _Alright,_ she quietly decided. _Maybe just a small nap or something, and then I'll get straight back to work. Or maybe I should take a longer break...would Mother and Father like that?_

It wasn't as if they were here right now, were they? Here, Eis wasn't in their presence. They weren't watching her every move to make sure that she did everything right.

So maybe she should take a longer break.

"So take as much rest as you need," Yerba said. "Take a nap, do something relaxing, just basically do anything that would relieve your stress. And after that, you can go ahead and work things out with Robin. Try to come to an agreement if you can."

"Fine," Eis sighed.

"And, uh, sorry about threatening you," Yerba said as she looked at her barbed tail. "Force of habit."

"Force of habit?" Eis questioned suspiciously.

"You don't need to know about my dragonethood," said Yerba with a nervous chuckle. "But hey, if what I did made you uncomfortable, then I'm really sorry, and I'll stop if you want me to."

"Oh, yes," Eis snorted, rolling her eyes. "That would actually be _highly_ appreciated."

* * *

Eis spent the remainder of the day relaxing. She laid back and decided not to put so much effort into everything that she did. She kept up this attitude even when it was night and the moons rose high into the sky.

Most other dragons were sleeping. Others were doing some late night studying in the library or clearing their thoughts in the art cave. Eis was one of the few dragons awake at this hour, but she had other intentions in mind.

She knew Mother and Father would feel displeased with her decision to take Yerba's advice, but it was only if they ever found out about it.

Obviously, Eis was quite determined to make sure that they don't hear about this. Or else they'll never let her live it down about how she was lazing around as if she was a mere RainWing, no less admit to being wrong to a SkyWing.

Worried thoughts started to fill her mind. Would they throw her out of the palace if they caught her like this? It wasn't as if she relaxed and took a break all the time. This was only just one time, and it was certainly rewarding, but still...

It was true that she did feel so much shame in it, but surely Mother and Father would understand that she just didn't want to work herself to death, right? After all, they still needed her. Didn't they? Eis was pretty sure that there was still so much she could do for both them and her tribe.

Slowly her worry ebbed away. It should all be fine in the end. She was still going to work hard and she was going to make them proud of her, just like they used to when she was younger.

She had promised herself that her cooperation with Robin, Yerba, Dolphin, and Stormseeker was only a temporary deal. Eis didn't like them much at first anyway. Robin and Dolphin were both clumsy and annoying, Yerba was far too talkative, and Stormseeker seemed unreasonably mysterious to a suspicious degree that Eis wasn't quite sure if she trusted him.

But at the same time, she felt as if she had also grown to quite like them. Or maybe she just ended up growing used to their company. The latter was probably true, but what Yerba had said stuck in her head.

It was hard for Eis to believe that there were other dragons who wanted to get to know her, especially since she's been trying so hard not to get so close to any dragon outside of her tribe. And in the case that she was ever forced to cooperate with them (just like right now), she would keep the relationship strictly professional and nothing more.

And here she was, actually thinking that she liked these dragons.

Not that it was a problem, of course. Eis just had to wait longer, and then once the school year is over and she's free to go home to the Ice Kingdom, she can forget all about them and move on with her life.

But first of all, Eis had something that she needed to make sure that she did first before she could ever get the chance to leave. It was going to be hard for her, though. She didn't need to apologize to anyone (who weren't her parents, at least) often, and she didn't like to. But she supposed that she might as well do this, or else she'll have to live with that irritating feeling of guilt for the rest of her life.

Eis knew that if she couldn't do it now, then she probably couldn't do it ever. So she steeled her resolve and strode out of her cave.

As she began to make her way toward Robin's cave, she took in her dark, yet peaceful surroundings. She personally liked the academy better during night, when everything was quiet and she was allowed to think her thoughts without there being much chance of anything interrupting her.

Of course, there were also dangers lurking in the dark. Eis thought back to the SkyWing that she and Robin had seen roaming these mountainous halls not too long ago, and she wondered if he was back here again.

Eis made a mental note to herself to try and keep an eye out for anything suspicious while she was on the way toward Robin's cave. She was hoping that she'd be able to find something helpful on the way there, even though she prioritized her talk with Robin first.

So it did come as a bit of a letdown to her that she didn't find anything quite as useful or mysterious or interesting as she had hoped by the time that she came to a stop in front of the cave.

Well, it's either go back and try to find something I might not find or have that talk with Robin, Eis thought.

Eis was very tempted to just go back and investigate and leave that talk for another day. She couldn't see the harm in that.

But then again, Yerba also wanted her to work things out with Robin, and Eis was pretty sure that she wouldn't be pleased if she skipped it. _But why should I care?_ Eis thought to herself irritably. She was a _princess_ while Yerba was a lowly SandWing. Eis should be able to do whatever she wanted.

Not that she thought that Yerba would care, of course. If anything, Yerba struck her as the type who would do whatever she was in the mood for whenever she felt like it. Eis swore that that dragon had _no_ sense of order and poise.

Still, Eis supposed that she, for some unfathomable reason, _had_ to do it. Yerba was expecting her to. Or maybe she wasn't.

Oh, Eis can easily imagine it. Yerba thinking that she wasn't going to go talk and apologize to Robin just because she was overly stubborn. Hmph! Eis would prove _her_ wrong!

The IceWing took a deep breath and then she went inside.

The first thing that Eis noticed were the sleeping dragons within the darkened cave. Yerba, Dolphin, Stormseeker, and Robin were all snoring away peacefully. It had taken Eis a moment to spot out Stormseeker, which didn't come much of a surprise to her as she knew that NightWings can camouflage themselves well in darker areas due to their black scales.

She headed over toward Robin's sleeping figure and she roughly prodded him in the side. Robin's eyes immediately snapped open and he was sitting up within seconds.

"Who's there?" he demanded, his head wildly whipping around. He laid his eyes on Eis and then he gave her a nervous smile. "Hey, Eis," he said. "Um, what are you doing here? I mean, if you want to yell at me more, then you totally can, just, uh, I don't really want that to happen even though it totally can happen, but just—"

"I didn't come here to yell at you, you idiot," Eis hissed. "I came here to...to apologize to you." There it was. Eis was apologizing to him, no matter how much she hated saying sorry to anyone.

Robin blinked at her. It was clear that he wasn't expecting that.

"What?" asked Eis irritably. "I'm not heartless, you know."

"Well of course not," Robin replied quickly. "But it's just that, you know, you seemed to be so sure about what you thought and all, and I thought you were right, and I wanted to make it up to you, and I wanted to go out tonight to find stuff but then I kinda wanted you and the others to come along too so I won't be alone, but I promise you don't really have to apologize! I mean, you were actually kinda right, I guess."

Eis wondered if there would ever be a time where Robin was smoother with his words, but what really caught her attention was the fact that he said that she was right.

"Right?" Eis questioned, raising a brow at him. She didn't think that he would say that after what she said to him. But now that she thought about it, she guessed that she should've seen this coming.

Robin nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I guess I _was_ kind of distracted," he admitted. "But I promise that I won't be like that anymore! I'll devote more of my time to figuring this out, I promise! I'll work really hard!"

She slowly nodded at him. "Alright," she said. "But I guess that that still does not erase the fact that what I said to you was rude. So if you promise that you'll keep working hard, I'll _try_ to be nicer to you. Okay?" she asked him.

Robin's smile grew wider. "Okay," he said.

"And...just to make you feel better, then I suppose that you are a... _better_ dragon than I thought you were," Eis confessed. "But just know that I'm only complimenting whatever skill and talent you have. This doesn't actually _mean_ anything."

This didn't seem to deflate Robin's mood. "Okay!" he said. "But I'm preeettty sure that you'll end up liking me later. Unless you're lying, of course, and you actually _do_ like me right now."

He had said that in such baffling optimism that it was hard for Eis to believe that a dragon like him could possibly exist. Why was he so bright and happy all the time? Eis knew that if he kept this up, then it could end badly for him.

But yet seeing him smile like that at her made her feel as if there were bubbles in her chest. She had to admit that she couldn't imagine him frowning and being unhappy all the time.

So Eis surmised that she would have to deal with him like this for now. She already had herself to be able to keep him in line, and there was a voice whispering in the back of her mind that he could help her, too. It was saying that he could help her with his bright, positive attitude and his dazzling smile. He really wasn't like any dragon that she met before.

Then, before she knew it, she couldn't help it.

Eis smiled back at him.

 _Stop it!_ the logical part of her brain urged her. _Don't smile back at him, for moons' sake!_ But Eis couldn't stop herself.

Right now, in this cave, her and Robin were the only two things that seemed to exist.


	13. Chapter Nine

Darkness was all Robin could see.

The area that he was in didn't have much detail to it. It was simple a black space. In fact, black was all he could see here. There wasn't any grass, any forest, any mountains, or really any kind of scenery at all. Not even the stars and moon shone above him.

The entire place was empty and barren.

Robin turned his head to observe his stark surroundings. The aching tendrils of dread grabbed and twisted his stomach as a pungent stench reached him.

 _What is that?_ Robin wondered. He had a feeling that he knew the answer already, but he couldn't understand what it was. He _wouldn't_.

It suddenly felt as if the dark area was expanding at once, and the stench became more apparent to Robin as it did so. And as it did, two motionless lumps were revealed. One orange and the other dark red.

Robin looked away, wrapping his cape tighter against himself. He refused to look at the sight before him. It wasn't real. He didn't know these dragons. He couldn't remember them ever being in his life. _I don't know them, I don't know them, I don't know them._

It felt as if his heart was trying to burst out of his chest. All he wanted was to get away. He wanted to get away from the smell and the lumps. He just wanted to get away from this entire place.

Robin quickly turned away and ran.

He ran and ran and ran. It felt as if he couldn't ever escape from that awful place and that he will be stuck there forever.

Then there was light. A dim kind of light, but still light.

Robin skidded to a stop and squinted at the new sight before him. It became clear to him that he was no longer in the area where he was. He relaxed before he realized that he had no idea where or what this place was.

It also seemed as if the world grew taller around him. His claws felt smaller and clumsier than they usually were, but he trekked on anyway. His curiosity was what dragged him forward, urging him to explore this strange, yet beautiful place.

It was obvious that he was in a forest. The dirt ground was dominated by grass and trees and bushes surrounded him everywhere he went. There was a pond resting next to a small, round hill that had a single tree on top of it.

A dirt path could be seen leading deeper and deeper into the forest. Robin followed it, turning his head left and right, trying to capture everything about his new surroundings.

There was something delicate and graceful about the trees. Perhaps it was the way that their branches curved so elegantly, making shapes that he didn't know that trees could make. Maybe it was the smooth-looking texture of the dark gray-brown bark. Or perhaps it was the dark blue tint on the green leaves that got him.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. Robin paused, looking around. Then he saw it to his right. He approached a tiny blue light that brightened up the space with its captivating blue light. He was filled with awe, wondering what this could possibly be. Then he quickly saw another.

Robin headed over to that one, but it faded into light blue smoke as he came too close. He let out a single, disappointed whine at that, and then he saw another one. He came close to that one, it disappeared, and then he saw another and went for that one. This process repeated until the trees no longer covered the sky overhead.

He had stopped as he reached the clearing. He looked up and saw a black sky illuminated by the light of the stars and the three moons. The clearing was bathed in an unnaturally blue light, making it seem more beautiful than it already was.

"Whoa," Robin breathed.

Then a few seconds later, he realized that his voice was more high-pitched than it normally was. It wasn't comically squeaky, but it definitely had a distinct shrill in it that Robin recognized that the voice must belong to a young dragoness.

Robin looked down at his claws and saw that they were no longer dark red. Instead, they were white, with only the slightest hint of pink to it. He blinked at the sight before looking back up at the sky. Where _was_ he? _Who_ was he?

His answer came immediately. Well, almost.

The SkyWing began to hear voices. They sounded oddly echoed and distorted, which made it harder for him to figure out what they were trying to say.

" _...ss...rida…!"_

What was that? Was that a name? Was someone trying to call for someone else?

" _F...ch..."_

That was another name. Robin _knew_ it was another name. But he didn't understand or know what the full name was. He wished that these voices were clearer. He wanted to understand what they were saying.

Maybe if he strained his ears a little bit more, then he would be able to hear it more clearly.

All of a sudden it felt as if there was an itch in his side. Robin went to go scratch it, but even after doing so, it didn't seem to disappear.

Then the feeling grew sharper and sharper until it became painful. Robin tried to do whatever he could to get it to go away (scratching at it, stretching, just basically whatever he could do), but it still didn't disappear.

The panic began to set in. What was this? Why can't he get rid of it?

Now he was beginning to hear footsteps coming closer from behind him. He wanted to run, but it felt as if his feet were rooted right into the ground. Then he felt cold talons grab his shoulders.

"Who's there?"

He suddenly woke up in a darker place. He wildly whipped his head around to look before he realized that he was back in his cave at Jade Mountain. He noticed Eis and when he laid his eyes on her, he gave her a small, sheepish smile.

* * *

"Nice to see that you two have resolved the problem," Stormseeker told them during lunch.

"Heh, yeah! Eis was really nice about it," Robin said after he swallowed the piece of cow that he was eating. He thought back to his talk with Eis that night. It brought him joy to know that he was finally going to get an easier chance to become her friend.

But he was still thinking about the dream that he had last night. He didn't share it with any of his friends since it probably wasn't important, but Robin can't quite bring himself to simply just shake it off. He wondered if the dream meant something.

What caught his interest and curiosity was the fact that he was a different dragon in that dream. Whoever that dragon was, she certainly wasn't anyone that Robin could recognize. He wasn't even sure of her name. That is, if she actually existed.

"Oh, I better hope so!" Yerba said. She grinned at Eis and the IceWing princess rolled her eyes in response.

"You know, it really wasn't any problem," said Eis. "All I had to do was say what was on my mind. It wasn't _that_ hard."

"If you say so, Eis," Yerba replied. Robin watched as the SandWing looked over toward Stormseeker. "So, Stormy—"

"Don't call me that," Stormseeker said.

"So, _Stormseeker_ ," said Yerba, "do you think you're free tonight?" Yerba lowered her voice so that only the group could hear. "Robin, Eis, and Dolphin are going to go investigate tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come, too."

Robin remembered that he wanted to go look around the school more for clues, but he had gotten too caught up in what Eis had said to him yesterday that he ended up having to move it to tonight. So he was determined to find something tonight in order to make up for lost time.

That was the right thing to do. Lives _were_ at stake here and Robin was determined to help save those lives, and then after that he and his friends would all be celebrated as heroes! That sounded fun to Robin, but first he needed to deal with the danger first.

"Sure," Stormseeker answered with a shrug of his wings. "It's not as if I have much to do during the night."

"Perfect," Yerba smiled.

"So where should we look?" Dolphin asked quietly. "I mean, obviously _I_ have a pretty good idea where we should look"—Eis and Stormseeker gave a disbelieving snort at this—"but I just want to find out your opinions first."

"Umm...maybe we could look around in the teachers' rooms?" Robin suggested. As he did that, a pair of MudWings ran past them, shouting and laughing at each other. Robin flinched at this and he gripped his cow tighter.

"Sure," Eis responded. "I guess that we can pretty much go anywhere as long as we think that we may find something there." She took another bite out of her bear.

"Right," said Yerba. She tapped one claw against the ground. "Tonight it is."

* * *

"Robin...Robin, wake up," Yerba whispered to him.

Robin wearily opened his eyes, yawning. Was it time to go already? He felt as if barely a minute had passed since he went to sleep. His eyes felt as heavy as stone and his entire body felt sore.

Nonetheless, Robin still forced himself to get up with a yawn. "Alright, alright, I'm coming," he muttered. Even if he was tired, he still had a job to do, didn't he? And Robin was feeling very determined to do that job. "Just...just gimme a second. I'm still feeling, you know, very tired and all and I want to go back to sleep but don't get me wrong, I really do want to do this, but—"

"Yeah, we get it," Stormseeker said from behind Yerba.

The dark red SkyWing felt his face slightly heating up from embarrassment, but he pulled himself off of the rock ledge and faced his clawmates. "So, we're going to go now?" he asked them.

"You betcha," Dolphin replied. Dolphin's eyes shone brightly and it couldn't be more clear to Robin how Dolphin felt about this.

"Let's go, then," Yerba said. "We don't want to keep Eis waiting, do we?"

Robin shuddered. An impatient Eis was _definitely_ not something that he wanted to deal with.

"Knowing her, then definitely not," Stormseeker said. He turned away and headed outside of the cave, and Dolphin, Yerba, and Robin followed after him.

They found Eis waiting outside of her cave. "It's about time you got here," Eis muttered to them as soon as she saw them. "I was beginning to worry that you might've forgotten for some reason."

"Well, we're here now," Robin said, the corner of his lips curling into a smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting, though. I mean, I was just—"

"Alright, let's just get this over with," said Stormseeker. Robin blinked at him and he thought he could see only the slightest hint of annoyance in Stormseeker's eyes, and Robin wondered if Stormseeker was losing his patience with the group.

"Right," Yerba said, nodding. "So I think that it'd probably be best if we split up into two. Just to cover more ground, you know."

"That makes sense," said Eis. "So, since _I'm_ a princess, I say that I go with—"

"—Dolphin, and that leaves me, Stormseeker, and Robin to go together," said Yerba.

"Wait…. _what_?" Eis asked.

"Great, glad you agree," said Yerba. Dolphin gave Eis a grin while Eis sputtered, baffled.

"This is blatant disrespect! I-I would report you if I wasn't, you know—"

"Nice to know," Yerba interrupted again. She looked back toward Stormseeker and Robin. "Let's go, guys!" she said, and then she began heading off. Robin and Stormseeker exchanged looks and then they went after her.

* * *

It had been a while since they first set out to find clues. And so far, they weren't finding much. Robin had begun to feel tired, but he didn't want to give up yet. There had to be something here, right? In all the stories that he read, heroes always found something while investigating.

Of course, this wasn't a story. This was real life. But hey, Robin knew that he had to stay optimistic here. It's what helped keep him motivated.

"Soo...this is turning out to be great so far," Yerba said.

Robin tilted his head at Yerba. "Do you really think so, Yerba?" he asked. "I mean, it's great that you're being positive and all, but, um, we really haven't found—"

"She was being sarcastic, Robin," Stormseeker cut in.

"Oh."

Yerba snickered while Robin put on a hangdog expression. "Don't worry about it, Robin," Yerba said. "You'll get used to it sometime soon. Chances are that you'll find yourself constantly surrounded by it."

"Um…," Robin said. "Well, okay." He wasn't sure if Yerba was being sarcastic _there_ (though he had the suspicion that she was) but he decided to just listen to what she said. Maybe he will be surrounded by sarcasm later.

They continued to search around for a while and they soon came to the library. The librarian, a SandWing named Coyote, was gone, as it was late at night, but everything else looked pretty much the same. The wooden tables in which the dragonets would sometimes read at were empty, but untouched. The leaf windows were closed and darkened and the dozens of scroll racks within the library were still in their place, with only a few scrolls missing.

"Ah, the library," Yerba sighed. She went up to one of the scroll racks, slowly brushing her talon across the scrolls. "Man, I rarely got to see this many scrolls back in the Sand Kingdom."

Robin thought about that curiously. He didn't think much about what Yerba's life was like. Perhaps it was because he was interested more in Eis and Stormseeker or that he just assumed Yerba lived more of a normal life because of her personality, but now what Yerba said made him wonder.

What _had_ Yerba's life been like?

"Why?" asked Robin.

"Huh?" Yerba said.

"Sorry, sorry. But, uh, how come you didn't, you know...see so many scrolls back when you were in the Sand Kingdom?" Robin queried. He couldn't imagine what life would be like without getting to know the beauty of scrolls.

Well, okay. So maybe he was talking about not knowing the beauty of scrolls _all that well_ instead of _at all_ , in which not getting to know their beauty _all that well_ is better than not getting to know it much _at all_ , but still!

"Well, it just wasn't something that I grew up seeing a lot of," Yerba answered with a shrug. "My mom only kept a few and that was how I learned to read. Otherwise scrolls just weren't a big part of my life."

 _That made sense,_ Robin thought. It sounded different from his own life, where he and Aunt Falcon read scrolls together all the time. Robin did particularly like to read stories about heroes and the way they would save the day. It sounded like a childish thing, but Robin still liked it, especially when he was doing it with Aunt Falcon. Aunt Falcon was the dragon who raised him, after all! Speaking of dragons who raise their dragonets…

"What about your parents?" Robin asked Yerba. He couldn't recall learning much about Yerba's own guardians. He felt a squirming feeling in his stomach now that he thought about how little he knew about Yerba's home life. But then again, maybe Yerba didn't want to share.

"I was only raised by my mother," Yerba replied as Stormseeker separated himself from the group. Yerba didn't seem to notice (either that or she didn't really care) as Stormseeker began to scan the scroll racks.

"You see, my father...well, he was absent for my whole life," Yerba replied, walking up to another one of the scroll racks. Robin followed her, curious about her father. He wondered why her father was absent. What kind of good father would just ditch his dragonet like that?

 _Your father left you too, you know,_ his brain reminded him. _Okay, that's kind of unfair,_ Robin reprimanded himself. First of all, he didn't know why his father had left but it was for a good reason! _Was it?_ Robin hoped so, otherwise it's going to cause a couple of issues for him.

"He left before I even hatched," Yerba continued. "According to Mom, he didn't even leave an explanation for it. As soon as my egg was laid, he was just gone."

That reminded Robin about his own parents. It was something that he was pretty sure that he made peace with a long time ago. He would've thought that Yerba did the same was it not for the fact that she spoke about the subject like she was eating a rotten lamb.

Stormseeker walked up to one of the scroll racks. Robin watched him observe the scrolls before sliding one out. He headed back over to Yerba's side. "Hopefully you made peace with it and that it's a good change now that you're here," he said. "And if you're looking for scrolls to read, then I can recommend this one."

Yerba took the scroll and observed it. "Red String by...wait, what? What's this about?" she asked Stormseeker. Robin looked at the scroll that he had given her, wondering what it was.

Stormseeker looked away as his face flushed. "You can find out later," he replied, taking the scroll back from her. "Just don't let Robin read it."

Robin's ears twitched. Why shouldn't he read it? For all Robin knew, it could be a very cool story that he would totally want to read! Why should Stormseeker count him out of it?

Before he could ask, Stormseeker took the scroll back from Yerba. "Let's try not to get too distracted about this, okay?" said the NightWing as he put the scroll back in its original place. "We can get the scroll from the librarian in the morning. For now, let's just focus on what we were doing."

Yerba gave Robin a small smirk before looking back at Stormseeker. "Sure thing," she said. She turned and headed out of the library. Robin and Stormseeker both followed her out.

However, as they came out, they saw something that they were not quite expecting to see. Or at least, someone.

Gale had been standing outside of the library. Upon seeing them, Gale's mouth grew into a wide smile.

"I give my most pleasing verbal expression of greeting!" Gale said.

"O-Oh, hey Gale," Robin greeted. His mouth curled into a nervous smile. Now how could he get Gale away? How was he going to explain what he was doing out here so late in the night? Did Gale already see Eis and Dolphin? Probably not, or he probably won't be here with them right now. Or maybe Eis and Dolphin already somehow managed to get Gale away from them.

Gale smiled at them, tilting his head. "If I may ask a statement meant to elicit some amount of information, I would like to be aware of your explanation for being in this specific location at this moment," he said.

Stormseeker raised a brow at him. "So you would like to know...why we're out here so late in the night?" he queried. Stormseeker tilted his head slightly at Gale.

"My answer is affirmative!" Gale replied.

Robin gave Yerba a sideways glance, wondering what she thought about this. Yerba blinked at Gale. She opened her mouth and then closed it again before looking towards Robin.

"Well, Gale, we were just, uh—" Robin tripped over his words as he tried to quickly think about what to say to this dragon. We were going out on a walk? Around the school? Would he believe that? he thought.

Much to Robin's relief, Stormseeker stepped in. "We were going to go check out the library," Stormseeker said. "For some late night studying."

"But why would you wish to devote your time to acquiring knowledge during the period of darkness between sunset and sunrise?" Gale inquired.

"Because we're just weird like that," Yerba swiftly responded. She gave Gale a stretched smile. Robin was pretty sure that that smile was forced.

There was something in Gale's posture that told Robin that Gale was probably unconvinced. Maybe it was the way that Gale's eyes glinted with a look of _"You're not fooling me"_ or maybe it was how his smile stretched slightly wider as if he wanted to say _"Sure you are."_

Whether Gale actually did know that they were up to something, he didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded at them and said, "So I suppose that the case here is that you were all going to make the short trip back to the caves where we reside at the academy?"

"Um….sure?" Robin asked. "But, Gale, uh….I mean, if it's not much of a bother for me to ask you a question, but, um….well, you already know what we're doing out here but, errr, what are you doing here?"

He had just realized that he still didn't know what Gale was doing out here. So since Gale asked them what they were up to, it was only fair if he asked him what he was doing as well, right? Right?

"Oh, I have just visually discerned that you were progressing with some short travel past my cave," Gale responded. He blinked at them in a manner that told Robin that he thought that the answer was obvious.

"So basically what you're trying to say is that you saw us go by your cave," Stormseeker said.

Gale beamed and nodded.

 _Aw jeez,_ Robin thought sheepishly. He had just assumed that almost every other dragon was asleep so that they wouldn't notice them walking around the school during the night.

Guess not.

"Wellll Gale, we're about to go now," Robin told him. "Yeah, we were just about to...go. Back to our cave. The cave in which we sleep. And we sleep to keep up our energy. Yeah." This was starting to get awkward.

"So if it is acceptable by you, would it be an agreeable arrangement if I come to the resolution to go with you as a temporary companion?" asked Gale. His brown eyes rested on them, prompting them to answer. Robin felt almost uncomfortable to look at them but he forced his own emerald gaze to return Gale's.

"I assure you that I will move back to my own cave after you have proceeded in your minor journey to yours," Gale promised.

"Sure," Robin said before either Stormseeker or Yerba could answer. Gale grinned excitedly back at him and his smile sent weird shivers down Robin's spine. It wasn't menacing. Not in the slightest. But there was something about it that was definitely captivating.

Stormseeker narrowed his eyes at Robin while Yerba let out a single sigh. Robin shrugged apologetically at them before turning back toward Gale. "So, um...should we go now?" Robin asked.

"Can't see any reason why we can't," Stormseeker said. The NightWing moved forward and the other three dragons walked behind him.

Robin thought about if they might see Eis and Dolphin again while they were walking back to their cave. Did they find anything?

"It appears as if the two dragons that you're in the company of have other distinct thoughts about a subject that is unlike what they claim," Gale whispered to Robin.

Robin tried to avoid his gaze. "Yeaaah?" he replied to Gale. He racked through his mind for what else to say to him. "Well...maybe they're just hungry and thinking about eating bears."

"Okay, that's wrong," Yerba interjected. "I think more about eating lizards, not bears. And I just wish that there were more lizards around this area so I can shove my nostrils full of them."

"...Yerba, why would you do that?" Stormseeker asked her, looking at the SandWing as though she threw up an entire boulder.

"All iguana do is have some fun," Yerba answered, smirking at him.

Stormseeker let out an impressive sigh and looked away from her. Yerba chuckled and she shot a smile at Robin, who smiled back at her.

When Yerba turned away, Robin looked back to Gale. He wanted to ask Gale if he already knew that they were up to something. Which was kind of a ridiculous idea, because then even if Gale didn't know that question would pretty much tell him that they were up to something.

But maybe Gale already knew. From what Gale said to him just moments earlier, Robin was pretty sure that he did. The thought of it made Robin's claws feel numb and his stomach twist. If Gale knew that they were up to something, then he might nose his way into everything that they do.

 _But on the other talon, he doesn't really know what exactly we're doing, right?_ Robin thought.

 _But on the third talon, if he knew then wouldn't that mean extra help for us?_ He had to admit to himself that he did like the idea of more assistance.

 _And on the fourth talon, what would Gale do?_ He hardly knew Gale. For all he knew, he might go and make friendly conversation with other dragons instead.

 _Yet on the fifth talon, I guess I really don't know him, so why should I judge him so quickly? But on the sixth talon, isn't that why I should be wary of him? But then on the seventh talon—AGH, STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS. This is getting confusing! I don't like this!_

The group turned left and Robin knew that they were getting closer to their cave. He felt as if he should pull Gale away for a private talk with him, but even _that_ idea he was cautious of. In what way could that go wrong?

Alright, alright, stop. Hmm...what would your heroes do? Robin wondered. His first thought automatically went to Commander Crimson, which probably wasn't the greatest idea since he was, well, _dead_. But that shouldn't stop Robin from looking to him for help, right?

Robin remembered Commander Crimson to be a brave dragon who never gave up once he set his mind on something. Even upon his death by SandWings ( _No,_ maybe _SandWings_ , Robin thought), he had always been remembered to be just that. Why should he stop now?

So if Commander Crimson could and would talk with Gale here, then so could Robin!

His mind made up, Robin cleared his throat to catch Yerba's and Stormseeker's attention. The two dragons stopped and turned to look at Robin. The dark red SkyWing hesitated for a moment before saying, "I, uh, need to go get something really quick." It wasn't the best, but it was a start. "If one of you can go with me, then that would be really great!"

"I'll come with you," Yerba offered. "I—"

"Oh, sorry, it looks like Gale already said that he wants to go with me! Yup, he totally does! Heh...well, Gale, it's time to go," Robin said. Before any of the other dragons could protest, Robin grabbed Gale and quickly headed off into a different direction.

Granted, Robin didn't quite know where he was going. All he was doing was just taking turns anywhere he saw them. A left, then a right, then straight forward, then another left, and then...he found himself at the open entrance of the school.

The entrance cave was empty and barren, completely unlike the way it was when Robin first arrived at the academy. He remembered that there were colorful signs and posters hung up around the walls. He wished that they were back up because they as well help him feel just a little less nervous.

Heck, maybe even Roadrunner's presence would help. Robin didn't see him much after his first couple of days at the academy. Roadrunner was only a helper to the teachers and not really part of the staff, but maybe he could be able to help out, too.

But this is what I set out to do, Robin thought. He wanted to talk to Gale, and so he was. He wanted to find an empty place to talk to him, and so he did.

He let go of Gale and the other SkyWing looked at him with raised brows. "Is there any specific object or event that causes you feelings of annoyance and dissatisfaction?" Gale queried. There was a slight tremble in Gale's voice as he spoke. "Is there any likelihood that that may refer to me?"

Robin shook his head quickly. "No no no, you're not annoying me," he said quickly. "But, well, I did come here to talk about you. But not in a negative way, I promise! I'm just curious about a couple of things. Things that don't include wondering why you're annoying. Not that you really are annoying! I mean, I just said that. But—gaahh, we just need to talk."

Gale tilted his head at him, worry flashing in his eyes. "What are the matters of interest that you wish to engage with me in conversation about?" he asked.

He took a deep breath. _Alright, you can do this,_ he tried to encourage himself. _You can do this! You have an idea on what you want to say, don't you? Wait...you don't. You really have no idea where to start. Maybe you should've thought this through more instead of just deciding on 'I'll talk to him because I'm curious.' But there's no turning back for you now, is there?_

Robin sighed. "Okay, Gale," he began. "I want to talk to you...uh...about—"

He immediately stopped himself as he noticed something behind Gale. Just outside of the entrance cave, a RainWing materialized out of nowhere. Her scales turned into a shade of dark purple while her tail turned dark red.

Apparently Gale noticed him looking past his shoulder as he turned his head to look right at the RainWing as well. To Robin's relief, Gale seemed to get the idea not to say anything.

Robin studied the strange RainWing for a moment. She was just as large as Professor Singe, which indicated that she was an adult. There weren't many RainWings in the staff of Jade Mountain, not even as helpers. So that immediately crossed out the possibility that she could be a student, teacher, or helper.

The RainWing's ears twitched and Robin forced Gale to look back at him. "So, uh, I just wanted to talk to you about...if you really know something about anything...um, weird...about...the _Scorched Scales_ series!" he said cheerfully. He pretended not to notice the other RainWing even though he could feel her gaze burning right into his scales.

Gale looked straight back at him. _Please keep doing that,_ Robin thought. _Please do this for me. Pleaaassseee._ "Have you, er, ever read that series before?" Robin queried. He hoped that the RainWing wasn't getting the idea that they noticed her.

"My answer is negative," Gale replied normally. Robin bit back a sigh of relief. "While I have been informed of the existence of the set of scrolls with similar plots, at no time in the past did I deal with the minor possibility of reading it."

"Well, I think you really should," Robin said to Gale. He wanted to see if the RainWing was gone yet. If she was just about to leave, then he was hoping that he could follow her to see where she was going to go. At this point he didn't really care if it'll tell Gale that he was doing something that no one else knows. _After all, Gale probably already knows anyway,_ Robin thought. He may not know exactly what, but he probably did know.

He decided to risk it and look back to the spot where he had last seen the RainWing. He found that she was already gone. But she couldn't have gone far! Robin told himself. He knew that trying to look for her would be useless. With her camouflaging scales, she'd be hard to find. But he at least had to try, didn't he?

"Er...is there a certain subject that concerns you enough to cause you to shift your direction of view over there?" Gale asked him, sounding worried.

Robin looked back to Gale, narrowing his emerald green eyes. "Totally," he answered. There really wasn't going to be any use lying here, was there? "Let's go, Gale! We have a change of plan."


	14. Chapter Ten

"Robin, do you truly believe that it is in accordance with fact and reality that travelling through the forest at this late hour is a good thought as to a possible course of action?" Gale asked as they walked through the thick forest close to Jade Mountain.

"Well...uhm...yes _and_ no?" Robin tried. He turned his head to look back toward Gale as they walked. "I really _do_ think we might be able to get something out of this but at the same time we might not, which really worries me because then we'd be outside school grounds for no reason if we get caught, and if we get caught then we get in trouble, and if we get in trouble then we get kicked out of the school, and if we get kicked out of the school then we might have to live the rest of our lives in shame."

Coming back home to a disappointed Aunt Falcon was one of his worst fears. He could just think of how ashamed Aunt Falcon would be of him if he ever came back home because he got in trouble. What if she ended up thinking differently of him for the rest of his life? If _Aunt Falcon_ didn't like him, then other dragons in his tribe won't like him, and if _that_ somehow reaches to the other tribes too, then _other_ dragons in _other_ tribes won't like him either.

It really wasn't the most comforting train of thought.

Robin turned his head back to look straight ahead of him. _Alright, now where did you go?_ he wondered. Surely the RainWing couldn't have gone far? He was sure that she didn't. But then again, she easily could have used her scales to camouflage herself. Which was very unfortunate for him.

He let out a sigh and turned his attention to his surroundings. The forest trees towered over him, their twisted branches and thick cloud of leaves covering any sight of the silver-speckled sky that laid just above them.

Fallen leaves crunched and cracked under their talons as he and Gale trekked across the worn dirt path of the forest. Robin flicked his ears as he heard the noise of scuttling rabbits. He ignored the tempting growling in his stomach and continued onward.

"Perhaps this was not the most excellent or desirable course of action to consider and have been drawn toward," Gale spoke. Robin heard the taller SkyWing stop behind him and he halted, turning to face him.

"What do you mean by that?" Robin asked him.

"Well, based on what I have noticed and perceived as something particularly significant to our peculiar goal, we have been moving by foot for an undefined yet long amount of time and we still haven't found anything worth of interest," Gale replied. Though he kept his eyes on him, Gale's talons fiddled with the vivid pink bow tie around his neck. Meanwhile, he looked at Robin with a half-lidded look as if he was saying, " _What's your idea now, genius?"_

"Well...okay, I guess you're right," Robin admitted. He looked away from Gale, his cheeks burning. "But, y'know, surely we haven't been lurking around for _that_ long. We might find something later."

Gale arched his brows at him. "Do you genuinely accept your hopes to be in accordance with reality to the fullest degree that you would rather persist in this activity than come to an end with it?" he questioned.

Robin stood silent for a moment, trying to determine what Gale was trying to say to him. After guessing that he meant to say something among the lines of " _Do you really think that's true enough to continue?"_ Robin thought about his answer. He had to quietly admit to himself that he was growing less and less sure as more time passed, but he didn't want to say that to Gale.

"Yup!" Robin answered, putting on the biggest smile that he could. "I _totally_ know that I will find at least _something!"_ he said. _Please believe me. I swear to the moons, PLEASE BELIEVE ME._

Gale looked unimpressed.

 _It doesn't look like he believes me. It also looks like I'm apparently very unlucky._

"Though it would be an act of deception to attempt to verbally communicate that I believe that you are as self-assured as you make an effort to make yourself seem," Gale said, "I...will define my choice to you as 'I will put in as much effort as I can to have a firm belief in the reliability of your judgement!'"

Gale smiled brightly at him.

Robin blinked, and once it finally sunk in on what Gale was trying to say to him, he gave him a look of disbelief. "Wow, wait, really?" he asked. "Like, you really, really, _REALLY_ mean it?"

"Well, in order for us to begin to form a mutual bond of respect and friendship in a genuine manner, we must start by giving each other a sensible amount of belief in each other's capabilities," Gale said. His eyes twinkled at him in a way that sent warm feelings throughout his body.

"Does, uh, does that mean you want to be _friends_?" Robin inquired. He remembered that before coming to Jade Mountain, he didn't really have many friends. It wasn't that he was _odd_. Well, okay, he might have been. And his green eyes were probably weird as well, but they certainly shouldn't be weird enough to scare anyone away from him.

But really, it was just that Robin didn't want to really talk to anyone. He always made an effort to, but then his words would just come out as an awkward mess. So he just ended up staying by the sides, minding his own business.

Dragons like Yerba, Dolphin, and Gale had much more of a welcoming presence. It was obvious, as all three dragons didn't intimidate him nor did they try to. It was what made it easier for Robin to talk to them. He was glad that Yerba and Dolphin were his friends, and he was also feeling grateful that Gale was interested in getting to know him and become friends.

Robin _wanted_ to be friends with Gale. Gale interested him, and his tendency to use more words than needed only furthered Robin's interest. But someone like Gale couldn't be as interested in him as Robin was in _him_ , right? Gale already had the company of Princess Corona, and maybe even more of the royal family.

"Why me?" Robin queried. He was a regular SkyWing with the most interesting things about him being that he was raised by his aunt and that he has odd dark green eyes.

"Robin, I believe in the possible truth that you may be in need of another dragon who you can form an affectionate bond with," Gale said. Robin watched as he picked up two leaves from off of the ground.

"And if I may speak in a truthful manner, it's possible that that is necessary to my personal existence as well," said Gale. He twirled one of the leaves over in his talons before dropping it back onto the uneven dirt ground. "Only two dragons within my scope of knowledge could be considered my friends. Surely you can already identify Princess Corona as one of them from our previous encounters. The dragon who is in relation with me as my male biological parent also counts as one. But then in addition to that, shouldn't all parents be friends with their young offsprings?"

"Well...they should, but that's not always the case," Robin answered. Robin could only vaguely remember his parents, and he remembered Yerba talking about how her father left before she hatched. He could only take a guess as to how many dragonets have other difficulties with their parents. "I mean, it's not like every dragonet gets good luck with their parents."

Gale looked down at the remaining leaf that he held in his talons before sighing and putting that one back onto the ground as well. "That _is_ the reality that is marked by bad fortune," he said. "In a verbal expression of hope and also uncertainty, I am obliged to say that I have feelings of desire for a period of time following the present that includes all parents behaving in a friendly and generous nature to their dragonets."

"And maybe we can have _all_ dragons be kind to each other, too," Robin said.

Gale smiled and nodded at him. "I have the same opinion as you do, and I hold it as my own thoughts that I find your company enjoyable," he said.

"Yeah...I find your company enjoyable, too," Robin replied. Gale was actually more likable than Robin expected him to be. Sure, his way of speaking was weird and strange, but it was also unique in a good way. And Gale was also an easier dragon to talk to, like Yerba. He wasn't as bossy as Eis or as closed-off as Stormseeker, which Robin liked about him.

"So...what's with that whole deal with Princess Corona?" Robin questioned. "Why do you like to hang out with her a lot? There _has_ to be a reason why I almost always see you two around together. Well, I guess you can only answer if you're comfortable with answering, I guess, but I just really, _really_ want to know. And—and not in a creepy way, I promise!"

"She behaves in a far more friendly and kind manner than other dragons that I am aware of the existence of," Gale replied, his brown eyes gleaming with amusement. He then walked ahead of Robin, not even looking at him. "And I also assume that the fact we share almost identical experiences with parents who put more than enough effort into keeping us away from harm and injury than what the maximum amount requires."

"Overprotective parents, huh?" Robin asked as he trailed behind him. Robin had to wonder if his parents had ever been so protective of him.

"My response to deal with your question is affirmative," Gale answered. He didn't look back at him and instead continued down the winding forest path. "It doesn't bring an emotional state of pleasure and enjoyment as some beliefs about the subject may express."

"Ohh," Robin said. Aunt Falcon had never been quite as protective of him as she could've been. It was no secret that she loved and cared about him, but more often than not, she handled his life in...well, a very reckless way. He still remembered the time when he got a hold of Aunt Falcon's 'secret' stash of alcohol.

Gale opened his mouth to answer, but before he could he clamped it shut. "Robin," he whispered. "Can you perceive noises of the voices of other dragons with your ears?"

Robin's ears twitched, and sure enough, he could hear the voices of other dragons. Robin's eyes widened and he looked to Gale, who was already following where he had heard the voices.

"...I'm telling you, I don't understand why we need to have you around," spoke an annoyed voice. Robin and Gale crouched down beside a tree, and Robin peeked around the tree to see what was going on.

He could see about three dragons: a SkyWing with vivid red scales, a deep black NightWing, and the RainWing that he had seen just a while before. They were all standing in the middle of a clearing.

"Be careful, Russet," said the RainWing to the SkyWing. Her voice sounded slow and captivating. It sent shivers down Robin's spine just to listen to it. He also noticed that the RainWing's eyes were narrowed at Russet and her scales were tinged with emerald green. "Don't forget who's in charge of this mission."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Russet snorted. His tail lashed along the ground, sweeping fallen leaves here and there. "Our big, scary boss put the very colorful RainWing in charge. Can't see anything wrong with that."

"It's because I know what she wants better than anyone else," the RainWing said. More and more green took over her scales. "She raised me, after all."

"Isn't it common for her to steal eggs just to build up her army?" the NightWing interjected. "And isn't it also common for those eggs to steal other eggs once they hatch and grow up? Tamandua, if I recall, that's exactly what you did."

"At least she didn't end up as deranged as Rafflesia," Russet said with a shudder.

"You're afraid of Rafflesia?" Tamandua asked, sounding amused. "Last time I checked, that little dragonet was willing to follow you around and obey your every order."

"It doesn't mean that she's not scary," Russet said. He dug his claws into the ground as he lashed his tail. "But that's not the point of our conversation. We're here at the academy for a reason, aren't we?"

"Three, actually," Tamandua said.

"Right," said the NightWing, nodding. "To find the defector, to find out who we need to kill to send the right message, and to find my brother."

Tamandua nodded. "That's right," she said. "So as long as we complete those three missions, then we can go."

"You know, why couldn't the boss just tell us who to kill?" Russet inquired irritably. Robin saw his lips curl into a small snarl. "That would sure save us a lot of time."

"You should understand that she can't know everything," Tamandua answered in an even voice. "All she wants us to do is find a dragon whose death is sure to cause disharmony."

 _Princess Corona?_ Robin wondered. Surely it had to be Corona. She was a princess, after all. But it was clear that they were still unsure about their target, otherwise Corona might already be dead.

"And what about Shadehunter?" asked the NightWing. "Have we gathered any information on him? I didn't decide to join you on this mission for nothing."

Alarm shot through Robin's body. Shadehunter was here? At Jade Mountain Academy? He didn't ever recall seeing Shadehunter before.

 _Did I miss him? Did I see him before but just never noticed that it was him?_ Robin didn't know what Shadehunter looked like outside of the average NightWing appearance, so maybe he did somehow miss him.

But then what about the others? If Shadehunter was missing and he was here, then surely someone would've noticed him, he thought. Gaah, this is annoying! Why can't anything be just as simple as they are in the stories?

Robin understood that nothing in real life was ever anything like the scrolls that he read. But he wished that they were. He wished that he knew exactly what to think and what to expect. He wished that he knew what to do.

Then Robin felt Gale's tail twine around his. Robin let out a deep, quiet breath, comforted by the other SkyWing's warm touch. He turned to look at Gale and Gale gave him a genuine smile that Robin couldn't help but return, and then he looked back at the other dragons.

"Don't worry, Starflinger," Tamandua answered. "If your brother is here, then we'll find him in due time. I have already found the defector."

"Perfect," said Russet. "So when do we take her out? Do you think that tomorrow night is a good date?"

"Possibly," Tamandua shrugged. "But before we do that, I believe we have a few uninvited guests we need to attend to."

Robin froze, staring at Tamandua. Her narrowed eyes seemed to burn straight through his scales and right into his heart, burning it as well. How did she know that they were there?

"You know, you can come out now," said the RainWing. She raised her chin slightly. "We're not going to bite."

Robin looked back to Gale. Gale trembled, but his eyes still met Robin's. "Let's give our maximum effort to not give way to our anxieties," Gale murmured to him. "There is still a possibility that we may not be physically injured."

Now Robin would've remarked about how that didn't sound very comforting, but that probably wasn't appropriate in this situation.

"Well?" demanded Russet. "Are you two going to come out now or not? We might give an apology for interrupting your argument or something."

Indignance rose up in Robin. Gale wasn't his enemy! Gale was nice. Was he? Yeah, Robin was pretty sure that he was. And Gale was amusing to hang out with, too. So why would Russet even think that he and Gale were arguing?

Swallowing his nervousness, Robin stepped out of his hiding place, slowly approaching the three dragons. He heard Gale follow behind him. Robin wanted to look back and see if Gale was doing alright, but at the same time something told him that even taking his eyes away from those three would be a bad idea.

"Now what were you doing over there?" Starflinger asked them. His dark eyes narrowed at him, and the feeling that Robin got from it was probably the equivalent to being stabbed with an icicle.

"We were...um...exploring," Robin replied. He knew that that wasn't the best excuse that he could come up with, especially with dragons who were so much older than him. Russet seemed to be the oldest out of the three, with Tamandua still being relatively young. Starflinger, however, seemed to be only six years older Robin.

"Breaking the rules just to satisfy your curiosity?" Tamandua asked. She tilted her head at him in a way that sent shivers down his spine. Her probing eyes trailed down all the way to his feet before quickly snapping back to his face. "Odd. You don't look like the type to break rules."

"A large number of living draconic organisms are not what they may give the impression of being," Gale spoke up.

"Well, I can already tell you're quite talkative," said Russet, his copper eyes locked on Gale.

"But why are you even here?" Robin blurted out. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"It's business that dragonets like you shouldn't get involved in," Starflinger said with a flick of his tail. _Well, it's a bit too late for that,_ Robin wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. Whatever they were doing, they certainly weren't up to any good.

Of course, if anything happened now, then Robin had no choice but to take Gale and run. He didn't have any training in combat and he certainly didn't want to die right here.

"Um...what kind of business?" Robin asked hesitantly. He needed to find out as much as he could, but he didn't want to seem suspicious to these dangerous dragons.

"Oh, yes, we're totally going to tell you what's going on," Russet said.

"Wow...wait, really?" Robin questioned, surprised. He didn't quite expect it to be that easy.

"Robin, I believe that he was attempting to express his words in a manner using irony to mock or convey contempt," Gale said to him flatly.

 _Oh. Right,_ thought Robin. Embarrassment began to heat up his scales.

"Never mind that." Tamandua began to approach him. Soon enough, she was soon circling him around like a shark, looking at him as though she found her tastiest meal yet. "Now then, why don't you go scuttle back to the school? I'm sure some dragons are missing you."

"They're fine," Robin insisted. There was no way that he was going to leave now. Not when it seemed like he was closer to answers than ever before. "All we want is answers."

"So you're not going to leave?" asked Tamandua. Little black spots began to appear on her scales. Gale eyed those spots warily, but didn't say anything about it.

"No," Robin answered, ignoring the feeling of dread creeping up on him. "We're not."

Tamandua shrugged. "What a shame."

Then it seemed as though the world slowed down.

Tamandua's jaw unhinged. In one, awful moment, Robin immediately knew what was going to happen. His feet felt rooted to the ground. This was it. This was really it, wasn't it?

But before Tamandua could spit that horrible venom at him, there was a flash of silver-white that crashed right into her. Tamandua was knocked away from Robin and inky black spots appeared on the ground right next to him, melting the grass.

"Robin!" Gale cried. The other SkyWing immediately went to his side, avoiding the melted grass on his other side. "Do you believe that you are in perfect health and safety?" he asked. His brown eyes studied Robin quickly and Robin had to lightly whack him with his wing to get him away.

"I'm okay, don't worry," Robin said to Gale. He focused his eyes on Tamandua, who was now wrestling with an IceWing. Wait...Coldfront? thought Robin in alarm.

He barely had any time to think rationally about it before a green blur zipped past him. Almost at once he recognized Emerald. The emerald-green SeaWing stopped and then reared up on her hind legs, then brought her front claws down on Starflinger's head. The NightWing's head slammed onto the ground and Russet hurried in toward Emerald.

The SeaWing reacted quickly and she jumped onto Starflinger's back, then launched herself at Russet. Her front claws stretched out toward the bright red SkyWing and she managed to knock him to the ground.

It became clear to Robin that while Russet looked intimidating, he wasn't really much of a fighter. Emerald had the upper hand against Russet, and she pinned him to the ground with little difficulty. She pressed her back legs against his back and her front claws dug into his snout.

Starflinger rushed in to attack Emerald and she raised her tail, whacking him across his head with it as soon as he came close. Emerald leapt off of Russet and spun around to face Russet and Starflinger. "Come on!" Emerald said to them, her mouth curling into a smug smirk. "You can fight better than this, can't you?"

Russet and Starflinger bared their teeth at her, and then they rushed in toward her again.

Robin's eyes shifted over to Tamandua and Coldfront. Coldfront had his talons wrapped around her neck and the RainWing's scales were now bright red with orange and black splatters. She opened her mouth again and almost at once Coldfront released her neck and leapt back, spinning around and whacking her with his tail.

Tamandua rolled over onto the ground, hissing in pain as white spots began to appear in her scales. She recovered quickly, though, and she soon leapt back up onto her feet. She glared in anger at Coldfront, who was digging his claws into the ground.

He suddenly saw a familiar white-gold body dash in front of him. "There you are," Yerba said quickly, eyes wide. "Robin, Gale, I need you to go now." She gripped Robin's shoulders tightly, and the look that she gave him was serious and nothing like that the Yerba he was so used to.

"But...but what about you?" Robin worried. He couldn't just leave Yerba here.

"I'll be fine," Yerba said. She narrowed her eyes, and then she shoved him back. Her lips curled into a snarl. "This isn't the first time I'll be getting into a fight." Her eyes blazed with a certain ferocity that terrified Robin, and then before he knew it, Yerba was launching herself into the fight to go help Emerald.

Yerba attacked Starflinger first. She arched her barbed tail and she stabbed it toward him, but the NightWing stepped to the side and grabbed her tail. Yerba roared and she whipped her head to face him. She opened her mouth and she shot a spurt of fire at him. Starflinger only barely managed to avoid it, ducking right beneath the scorching flames.

Starflinger's grip on her tail loosened and Yerba yanked her tail away from him. She lashed out with her claws and she raked her sharp claws across his snout. Starflinger staggered back, hissing in pain. Yerba jumped toward him and this time, Starflinger managed to dodge her. Yerba's claws pressed into the ground as Starflinger stepped away from her, and she ripped her claws out of the ground and spun around to face Starflinger, snarling at him.

"Robin, I believe that it is an essential requirement for us to come around to getting into motion in a location away from this area," Gale said urgently to him. Robin realized that he's been staring at the fight the entire time, frozen in place with his heart thumping right against his chest.

Tamandua, by now, had somehow gained the upper hand against Coldfront. She was pinning him down, pushing her talon against his head as Coldfront snarled and tried to turn his head.

And just then, Tamandua turned around to look at Robin and gave him a significant look. She looked almost...calm.

 _Good,_ said a voice in his head. _Oh, Tamandua, you know me so well._

It took him a moment to realize that the voice wasn't his.

Then it felt as if someone was stabbing a knife into his eyeballs and then the pain went through into his head, and everything went black.

* * *

 _"I personally like my eyes. They're unique for a SkyWing like me, aren't they?"_

 _"Someday, my ambitions will be the death of me."_

 _"You've been interfering with my life for too long."_

Words echoed over and over in his head. For that one moment, he felt as if he could understand those voices…

Then his eyes snapped open, and he realized that he was now outside of the entrance to the academy. He shot upward, wildly looking around. He recognized Stormseeker, Yerba, Eis, Dolphin, Emerald, Coldfront, and Gale all standing around him.

Yerba, Coldfront, and Emerald all bore injuries on their bodies, though thankfully none looked too serious.

"Robin, are you okay?" Yerba asked him worriedly. "Are you hurt? Do you need water? A bag of ice?"

He shook his head. "I'm...I'm fine," he replied.

"Good. So now that we got that over with...what were you thinking?!" Eis snapped at him. Robin winced. "Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?"

"Eis, it's a possibility that it would be better to a certain degree to behave in a more mild temperament to him," Gale said. He looked to Robin with a concerned look in his brown eyes.

Eis huffed.

"That doesn't matter now," Stormseeker said. He looked at Robin and he felt compelled to look away from the NightWing's sharp eyes.

"Yeah. What really matters now is that you still need to know about how awesomely we fought," Emerald said, puffing her chest out.

Robin expected Yerba to joke along with her, but much to his surprise, the SandWing frowned at her instead. She didn't even make some kind of witty comment.

"Are you serious?" Coldfront hissed to her. He narrowed his eyes at her in a way that made Robin fear for Emerald's safety. But Emerald didn't look terrified at all, and instead the SeaWing just grinned at him.

"You know I never am," she said. Her eyes twinkled. "I mean, come on. We've been friends for quite a while now."

"Never mind that!" Eis said. She lashed her tail along the ground. "We already know what happened. So what were _you two_ out doing in the middle of the night?" She settled her glare on Emerald.

"Oh, we were only _exploring_ ," Emerald responded. She tilted her head innocently back at Eis.

"You don't have much of a care for the rules, do you?" Eis asked indignantly, raising her chin at Emerald.

"Don't worry. We break the rules all the time," Coldfront said with a simple shrug of his shoulders.

"And if we get in trouble, then it's certainly not the first time," Emerald grinned. "Plus, that's a bit rich coming from someone who also went out exploring the school tonight."

"Well...I meaaann...yeah, you're not wrong about that," Dolphin sighed. His shoulders slumped and he hung his head.

"But the difference is is that we were doing it for the _right_ reasons!" Eis said. She looked as if she was about to explode with anger.

"Eis, that's enough," Stormseeker interjected. He gave the princess a stern glare. Eis groaned, but she didn't say anything more.

"Guys...I don't...I don't understand," Robin said. "What happened? When did I end up here?" The last thing that he remembered was Tamandua looking at him.

"You passed out," Yerba explained. "We had to drag you all the way back here."

"And what about…?" Robin's voice seemed to trail away from him. His throat felt dry and rough.

"Don't worry, we chased them off," Emerald said to him. "I mean, _obviously_ we would."

For a split second, Robin felt anger bubble in his chest. _They failed._ But the feeling went about as quickly as it came. _What was that?_ Robin wondered.

"Sure, Emerald," Stormseeker said, rolling his eyes. He laid his gaze on Robin, and Robin tilted his head at him.

"Um...yes?" Robin asked.

"So...Starflinger's here?" Stormseeker asked him. Robin thought that he could detect a certain sharpness in Stormseeker's eyes that told him that Stormseeker not only knew Starflinger, but he also had some kind of past experience with him. But when? Why did he never bring him up?

"Y-Yes," Robin stammered. He tried to remember what Starflinger had been talking about. "He said...he said that he was here to look for...Shadehunter!"

Shock coursed through Robin's body as he remembered. "Shadehunter's here! At this school! A-And those dragons were also here to look for someone who—who betrayed them."

"I have the means to establish the correctness of Robin's statement," Gale spoke. "I was in his company in the same location during the time in which those words were spoken."

Stormseeker paused for a moment, and Robin felt his stomach twist and turn. What was he going to say? But then Stormseeker nodded. "Thank you for telling me this," he said to them.

"Wait, Stormseeker," Eis spoke up. She gave Stormseeker a face of disbelief. "You know him? Why didn't you bring any of it up before?"

"I...didn't think that it would be important," Stormseeker replied. He didn't meet her gaze and instead continued to look down at Robin, who shifted uncomfortably in his position. "And while I did have my suspicions that he was involved, I just didn't think that he would really be involved in this."

"Stormseeker, even if you weren't sure, you could've told your suspicions to us," Dolphin said. "I mean, aren't we your friends? Well, okay, I guess that we don't know each other that well and all and I might just be emotionally clinging onto you and labeling you as my friend, but—"

"Dolphin, stop," Yerba interrupted. Dolphin shut his mouth immediately and Yerba gave him an apologetic smile in response before looking to Stormseeker. "Stormseeker, if you have anything that you want to say, then just know that you can always tell us. But if it's something that you're just...uncomfortable with talking about, then you can always talk to me and no one else has to know if you don't want them to. If it's something that you want to be kept a secret, then fine. Just know that there's always going to be someone willing to talk to you about your problems."

Stormseeker sighed. "I wish I could believe you," he murmured. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "Let's go to sleep now. It won't do to be tired in the morning."

Emerald and Coldfront exchanged glances. Robin would've thought that they were speaking telepathically to each other if he didn't know that SeaWings and IceWings couldn't have some weird telepathic powers. But there was still something in that gaze of theirs that didn't quite feel right to Robin…

Then Emerald and Coldfront turned to leave, and this acted as a cue to the remaining dragonets that they ought to leave as well.

"Make sure to be careful to avoid any potential dangers or problems in the period that is regarded as yet to come," Gale whispered to Robin.

"Alright, alright, I will," Robin said, guessing that Gale meant _"Be careful in the future."_

Gale nodded, and with that he broke away from the group and headed off to his own cave.

"Yerba, what are you going to do about those injuries?" Dolphin asked the SandWing. He eyed Yerba's wounds with worry in his eyes.

"I'll just say that I went out on my own and got myself injured," Yerba said. She smiled at him. "At least I'm not bleeding _too_ hard, or else my excuse would be all in _vein_."

"Is it possible for you to make any _good_ jokes?" Eis asked.

"Please. I'd love to know," Stormseeker said.

Yerba made a face of mock hurt. "Hey, I _totally_ make good jokes," she said. Eis and Stormseeker snorted at the same time.

 _Even if Yerba doesn't make very good jokes to them, surely they would have to admit that she's pretty good at fighting if they ever saw her fight,_ Robin thought. He remembered watching Yerba fight and it looked as if she knew how to handle combat pretty well.

Robin hesitated before whispering, "Yerba? Can I ask you something? When we get back to the cave?"

"Sure," Yerba whispered back to him. "I'll let you ask me just about anything."

Robin nodded, and then Eis headed off to her own cave with a small wave of her tail in goodbye. Dolphin, Yerba, Stormseeker, and Robin returned to their cave, and at once they curled up into their sleeping spots.

He waited until he was sure that Dolphin and Stormseeker were asleep. He didn't want them to find out what he was going to ask Yerba. He was afraid that it might seem kind of embarrassing in a way.

"Alright," Yerba said softly. "What did you want to ask me?"

 _Alright. Just say it._ "I want you to teach me how to fight," Robin blurted.

Yerba's brows raised. "Really?" she asked. "You, uh...want to learn how to fight?"

Robin looked down at his talons.

"I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that," Yerba said. "I mean...I was just wondering...what made you decide that you wanted me to teach you how to fight?"

"Well, I couldn't do _anything_ at all to help you while you were fighting against those dragons," Robin said, lifting his head. "So, I realized that if we're dealing with dragons like them, then learning how to fight and defend myself is really important. I saw you fight, and I thought that you could help me."

"Of course I'll help you," Yerba said. She frowned softly. "But are you sure you want _me_ to teach you how to defend yourself? I wasn't trained by any professionals or anything. I only learned how to fight because I kept getting angry at the other dragonets and got into way too many brawls with them."

"That's good enough for me," Robin promised.

"Well, if you say so," Yerba said with a smile this time. She flicked Robin's snout with her claw. "Go and get some sleep. It's been an eventful night."

* * *

Dawn seemed to come in only a few seconds after Robin went to sleep. And dawn came in the form of Dolphin shaking him with a terrified look on his face.

Robin's eyes snapped open and met the two faces of Dolphin and Eis. Both of them looked sincerely concerned and worried, and Robin knew that something must've happened. "What's going on?" Robin whispered. "Where's Yerba and Stormseeker?"

"Stormseeker is what we came here to tell you about," Dolphin whispered to him.

"Robin...Stormseeker's gone," Eis said.


	15. Chapter Eleven

"So Yerba went after him?" Robin asked. He tried to ignore the chilly breeze of dawn as he, Eis, and Dolphin flapped their wings, approaching closer and closer to the forest that he had only just been in last night.

"That's right," Dolphin confirmed. He didn't look up and meet Robin's eyes, and instead looked down at the ground with an uneasy look on his face.

"But why would he leave?" Robin queried anxiously. Thoughts swarmed and scattered his mind. Why _would_ Stormseeker just leave like that? Didn't he still want to help them? Where was he going with this?

It seemed to Robin as if more and more questions were just piling up in his head. About who might be killed at the academy, about who could be the defector that Starflinger, Russet, and Tamandua were talking about, and about what happened to Shadehunter and why they thought that he was here.

And now Stormseeker was gone, too, and that only added one more question that Robin needed an answer to.

"Well," Eis spoke, "he _did_ say that he knew that Starflinger dragon, didn't he?"

Robin nearly fell out of the sky. "Are you suggesting that he's actually _working_ with those dragons?" Robin cried.

"It's a possibility we shouldn't rule out," said Eis. She narrowed her eyes. "He already knew about Starflinger, right? And he certainly didn't bother to tell us about him."

"Eis...well, look. I'm not sure if that's it," Dolphin said. This time, he raised his head to meet the gaze of the IceWing. "I mean—I mean, yeah, it _is_ a possibility, just like you said!" he said quickly as Eis turn to glare at him. "But—well, it's just that he's already _told_ us why he didn't say anything about him."

"Besides, why would he work with us to expose himself?" Robin put in. It just didn't sound reasonable to him.

"And it's _possible_ that that could've just been a cover," Eis pointed out. "A lie just to protect himself."

"Don't you have any faith in him?" Robin asked her. He gave Eis a look of disappointment and the princess looked away from him, lowering her head to gaze at the ground instead of him.

"I know that he's supposed to be our ' _friend'_ and all," Eis said. "But that doesn't mean that we should rule him out as a suspect, right?"

Robin didn't respond. He didn't want to say anything that might sound as if he didn't believe in Stormseeker. He didn't want to say anything that would make him believe that Eis was right and that Stormseeker wasn't their ally.

 _Maybe Yerba found him already,_ Robin thought hopefully. If Yerba already found him, then he should be able to ask Stormseeker some questions about why he left. Of course, maybe Yerba already knew and she would tell him.

But then why did _he_ care so much? It wasn't as if Stormseeker put in much of an effort to get to know _him_. If anything, Stormseeker probably didn't even consider Robin as much of a friend as Robin considered him.

 _That's not the point,_ Robin told himself sternly. That didn't matter. What mattered was that Stormseeker disappeared somewhere and something awful could've happened to him. Robin was going to find Stormseeker and get some answers.

They landed as soon as they found an open clearing in the forest. Green blades of grass bent beneath their feet as they landed. They closed their wings and then exchanged glances with one another.

"Alright, so where do you think we should start?" Dolphin asked. His eyes squinted against the rising sun and Robin thought that he could see him shivering ever so slightly. Not that Robin could blame him, of course. It _is_ kind of chilly out here.

"You're asking that while we're in a _forest?"_ Eis questioned incredulously. She stared at Dolphin as though he just shrunk down to the size of a scavenger. "Dolphin, that was honestly just ridiculous."

The SeaWing ruefully smiled. "Yeah, I know. That wasn't very smart. But hey! Dumb things come out of a dumb dragon, am I right?" Dolphin said.

 _That's not true,_ Robin thought. He didn't really think that Dolphin was dumb at all. True, he wasn't the most smooth individual, but he certainly wasn't _stupid_.

Before Robin could tell Dolphin otherwise, Eis began to move. "Come on," she said, turning her head to look at the two of them. "We're here to look for Stormseeker and Yerba, not to stay in one place the entire time."

"Oh, right, of course!" Robin said quickly. He grinned widely at Eis, who gave him a half-lidded look in return. "That was what—yeah, that was what I was just about to do!"

Eis blinked at him before sighing and looking away. "Sure, Robin," she said. Then she started to move away from them. The pale, rising sunlight caught onto her scales as she walked, adding an extra gleam to them. "If I find anything, I'll see if I can find a way to signal you."

"That won't be necessary."

Eis stopped and Robin and Dolphin jumped. Robin looked behind him, and then he saw Yerba and Stormseeker come into the clearing. Stormseeker looked down at the ground and his armband gleamed in the dawn light.

Yerba was looking at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes before looking over to them. She gave them a small smile. "Found him!" she said to them.

Eis, Robin, and Dolphin all turned their bodies to face them. Eis narrowed her eyes as she saw Stormseeker. " _There_ you are!" she shouted. "Where have you been? Don't you understand the kind of _worry_ that you caused us?"

Robin flinched at the ferocity in Eis' tone. He wasn't sure if Eis was exactly worried for Stormseeker's well-being and was instead more worried about the possibility if he was actually working with a bunch of criminals, but Eis still seemed intent on letting the NightWing know just how concerned she was about the situation.

"What do you think we would've done if you were _hurt?"_ Eis demanded.

Robin shook off the relief that he felt at that. So Eis really _did_ care about Stormseeker. But that didn't stop the NightWing from flinching at Eis' tone.

"Whoa-kay, Eis," Dolphin said. He looked apprehensive as he glanced toward Yerba and Stormseeker. "Maybe it's time to calm down a little bit there. I mean, you don't _have_ to listen to a dragon like me, but it'd be nice if you just, you know, took my suggestion."

Before Eis could say anything to Dolphin back, Yerba stepped in. "Eis, stop that," the SandWing said, narrowing her eyes at her. "Stormseeker _knows_ that you were worried. You don't need to shout at him about it."

A gust of wind blew past them, but somehow that chilled Robin's scales less than the vulnerable look on Stormseeker's face as Yerba spoke. That was a face that Robin never thought that he'd see on a dragon like him, but here it was.

Stormseeker was hunched over and he looked as if he wanted to sink into shadows and never be seen by anyone again.

"So then where did you go?" Eis demanded in a more gentle tone—or at least, the most gentle tone a dragon like her could muster. Her voice, however, was strained. "What was so important that you had to go run off into the forest while the rest of us were sleeping, huh?"

"It was just that…" Stormseeker began. He paused for a moment before continuing with, "It was just that I was scared."

"Scared?" Robin asked. "Of what? Well, if it doesn't bother you too much for me to even _ask_ , of course, but I guess that's a little too late. So...maybe if you're not too bothered to answer?"

All Robin wanted was an answer to a question. It'll certainly get rid of one question from his ever increasing pile of them. That would _certainly_ be nice, but at the same time he didn't want to force an answer out of Stormseeker.

"Yeah, Robin," said Yerba. She gave him a small smile. "Stormseeker might be a little bit too uncomfortable with the subject. So maybe—"

"No," Stormseeker said, shaking his head. "Yerba, I...I think it's time that they found out the truth."

Yerba blinked at him but she didn't say anything more. Then Stormseeker began to reach for his ribbon, untying it.

 _Wait...what's going on?_ Robin wondered. Why was Stormseeker beginning to take off the ribbon? He didn't understand what kind of significance _that_ would have.

However, as soon as he took it off, Stormseeker began to _change_.

Stormseeker's scrawny body became more balanced and slim. The dark blue disappeared from his black scales and was replaced instead by a purplish tinge. Then his dark eyes changed right into the most startling, vivid shade of purple that Robin had ever seen on a dragon.

"Wait...no way," Eis murmured, baffled. She looked incredulous as she stared at this strange new dragon with wide eyes. "Who _are_ you?"

Stormseeker sighed. "My name is Shadehunter."

* * *

"Why didn't you tell us any of this?" Eis demanded angrily as they all sat around in a circle. "Why would you keep it a secret from us?"

"Why not?" Shadehunter said with a shrug. He dug his claws into the earth, not meeting her gaze. "I had every right to keep it a secret, especially since I was being hunted down."

"But then why would you leave in the first place?" Dolphin asked. He tilted his head at him. "Didn't you want to help your kingdom? I mean, not that _I_ know, but if I was an animus, well, I'd definitely want to use my powers well."

"I don't understand," Robin said. He forced himself not to flinch as Shadehunter turned his eyes to him. His vibrant purple eyes did not lose their shiver-inducing quality as Stormseeker. "Why would you leave you tribe behind? Didn't you have friends and a family back there?"

"I didn't really leave my tribe, just my old life," Shadehunter said. "And a lot of dragons liked to call themselves my friends, and I thought they were my friends, too."

"You _thought_ , huh?" Yerba asked sympathetically.

"Yes, I _thought_ ," Shadehunter muttered. His claws dug deeper into the ground. "But I guess that's my fault. I should've expected them to care more about the powers than the dragon who had them."

Robin didn't really think about it like that before. Usually when he thought about being an animus, he thought about getting to do great things for your tribe and everyone else that you cared about. He thought about being respected by everyone that knew him, including Queen Nimbus herself.

But he didn't think about _this_. Now that he thought more about it, Robin supposed that it did make sense for dragons to be more focused on the animus powers of the dragon instead of who they are.

Sympathy tugged at Robin's chest. "Wasn't there anyone who cared about you? For who you were?" Robin asked the NightWing.

"Well...there was Starflinger," Shadehunter answered. He lifted his head and met Robin's eyes. "He was always there for me back then. He was...he wasn't just my brother. He was my best friend. But as times change, then so do dragons, I guess." Shadehunter's eyes looked as if they glazed over. Now it looked as if he was staring into nothing, and there was a small tremble in his body.

"So...you ran away, then?" Yerba queried. "Because you felt as if there wasn't any place for you the way you were?"

Life returned to Shadehunter's eyes and he nodded. "Yes," he said. "So I just got this ribbon, enchanted it to change my appearance, and ran away." He picked up the ribbon that he had pinned beneath his claws.

"Wouldn't it have been better for you to, you know, go off to other tribes instead of staying in the same one?" Dolphin questioned.

"I _could've_ ," Shadehunter responded as he lowered the ribbon and pinned it below his talons again. "In fact, I considered it. But...I still had a place in my tribe, didn't I? I still had a connection to the NightWings and I didn't want to sever it so easily. And I had a feeling that Starflinger would try looking for me again and he'd expect me to be in another tribe instead of staying around. So it's those and the fact that I would rather die than live underwater."

Dolphin's fins flared, looking baffled. "Being underwater isn't _that_ bad!" he protested.

"Actually, I would agree with Shadehunter here," Yerba interjected. "But that's not the point right now." The white-gold SandWing looked back toward Shadehunter. "So where did you go after you ran away?"

"Anywhere, really," the purple-black NightWing said. "I just kept traveling and traveling for about two years, but this NightWing family found me and took me in. They were nice, especially their daughter. Though Galaxyweaver can be a little bit too...energetic."

"Wow, being energetic," Eis snorted. "I wonder, who _else_ do we know is energetic?" Here, she cast a glance toward Yerba and Robin. The young SkyWing felt his scales go warm with embarrassment.

"I can't be _that_ energetic, right?" Robin asked. "I mean, not to the point where it gets annoying, that is. I mean, sure, sometimes I talk a lot, but you know, that's just part of my nature and it's kind of hard for me to stop talking like this, so why should I stop talking like this? It's part of who I am! Unless being who I am is annoying to you, I guess, then maybe I can change part of it? But what I'm trying to say is that—"

"Stop, stop," Eis groaned. "I get it, Robin. You don't need to talk any more than that. Though...I guess I won't mind if you kept talking. I've grown used to it by now." She rolled her eyes before looking back to Shadehunter.

"But...but...um," Dolphin said. "Wouldn't it be a good thing, though, if other dragons liked you because of your powers? It would mean more dragons would be interested in you, right?"

"You don't understand," Shadehunter sighed. He swept his tail once over the ground. "Yes, it would mean that more dragons are interested in you. But why would any of it matter when they're looking more for your powers than who you actually are? I was tired of being treated as if I was only a tool, Dolphin. That was how everyone saw me. An item that they could just use anytime they needed me."

"But—" Dolphin started.

"But what?" Shadehunter interrupted, giving him a sharp look. Dolphin fell silent under his lavender gaze.

"Never mind," the dark green SeaWing whispered.

"Hold on," Robin said. There was still one thing that he wanted Shadehunter to answer. "You said that Starflinger had been your best friend. What happened between you and him to, well, you know, change that?"

There was a moment of hesitation from Shadehunter.

"That," Shadehunter said after a moment, "will be something that I'll leave for next time."

"Great," Yerba said. "So now that we got all of that cleared up, it's about time that we headed off to class, don't you think?"

"Oh, of course!" Eis agreed, nodding her head. The IceWing rose back up onto her feet, a stern look crossing her face. "Well, we better hurry up, then! We should miss as little as possible for class!"

Robin stood up and watched Shadehunter take the ribbon and put it back on. Almost at once, the purple disappeared from his body and were replaced by dark blue. Robin had to admit to himself that it still felt weird to watch the transformation happen and he wondered if he'll have to watch it more times than now.

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Stormseeker asked them as he stood back up. "I...I would really appreciate it if you didn't."

"We promise that we won't," Yerba said while she and Dolphin rose to their feet. "I'll make sure of it, too."

Stormseeker sighed in relief. "Thank you, Yerba," he said.

Then, the five dragonets lifted off into the sky and headed back to the academy.


	16. Bonus Scene: Sand and Night

Yerba watched Dolphin and Robin sleep peacefully. Or, at least, as peaceful as they could look. She noticed lines of worry creasing Dolphin's forehead and Robin fidgeting around in his sleep. They looked afraid as if something would suddenly barge in to hurt them.

 _I won't_ let _anything hurt them,_ Yerba thought with fierce determination. They were good dragons and good friends, and she would rather eat only rotten rats for three months before she let any one of her friends get hurt.

And besides, if she could just train Robin (and Dolphin too, of course) in fighting, then surely there would be less of a chance of anything that could hurt them.

 _But would it be enough?_ Yerba wondered. She hadn't been trained to fight, as she was mostly self-taught. True, her mother taught her a few fighting tricks of her own before Yerba left for Jade Mountain Academy, but it had only been for a couple of months. And thinking about her mother…

 _Sandstorm._ The name quickly crossed Yerba's mind and with it came the many complicated feelings that she had about her mother.

She remembered Sandstorm's vacant stare and the nights Yerba would spend as she wondered when she was ever going to rely on her mother again. She remembered Sandstorm joking with Yerba and showing her so much love and affection before she shut down when Yerba was only two years old.

 _That's not what you want to do right now,_ she told herself. She glanced over at Stormseeker's sleeping shape. _Focus._

"Psst...hey, Stormy, wake up," Yerba whispered to Stormseeker. She shook him gently. _What should I call him? Shadehunter or Stormseeker?_ The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got. So she pushed that question to the back of her head as she decided to just call him Stormseeker for now.

Soon, Stormseeker was awake. He raised his head to look at her and he narrowed his weary eyes. "What do you want?" he muttered. He sat up, letting out a quiet groan.

Yerba looked over to Dolphin and Robin, making sure they were still asleep, before looking back to the NightWing. "I want to talk, of course," she said with a shining smile. "And trust me when I say that you're not going to escape from this conversation. Because you're not."

"What are you going to do, stab me with your SandWing barb?" Stormseeker questioned wryly. "That would actually be quite welcome, if you ask me."

Yerba let out a quiet laugh. "Maybe I should tell you one of my jokes instead?"

"Three moons, anything but that," Stormseeker said.

She chuckled. "Alright, alright, I better focus now," she said. "So...I was hoping to talk to you about...things."

"What _things_?" Stormseeker asked. He lifted a claw and examined it with a half-lidded expression.

"First of all, I have a question," said Yerba. "Do you...consider me to be a friend?"

Stormseeker put down his claw and raised his eyes to look at her. "Well…" He hesitated. "It's not that I _can't_ say that you are. It's just that...it's hard for me to say that you're my friend."

Yerba blinked. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. She had a feeling that she already knew what he meant. She had a feeling that what he meant to say was that he didn't _want_ to call her a friend. Not because he didn't consider her as one, but because he was too afraid to say so.

Stormseeker looked away from her. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's not that you're a bad dragon. You really aren't."

"I know," she sighed. She looked down at her talons.

"I'm sure that _you_ consider _me_ a friend, though," Stormseeker said gingerly. There was a reluctant pause from him before he said, "You seem like the type of dragon to have lots of friends. You're really talkative and outgoing...in a good way, really."

Yerba raised her head, looking back at him. Did he really think that about her? That she was the type of dragon to have a lot of friends? That she was the type of dragon who made friends easily wherever she went?

The SandWing let out a rueful chuckle. "I'm glad that you think that about me," she said. "But...well, that's really not true."

Stormseeker tilted his head at her. "Would you care to elaborate?" he asked.

"I didn't really get much of an opportunity to make friends when I was younger. In fact, I didn't grow up with a lot," Yerba explained. She studied Stormseeker's face for any sign of a reaction and when she couldn't detect any, she went on. "My mother...well, eventually she just kinda ended up falling apart after her mother died. She just... _stopped_ caring about things, i-including me."

Oh, yes, and there came those feelings again. She recalled the frustration she felt at her mother and still felt now, when she wanted to shout " _I'm still here! I still exist! I need you, pay attention to me!"_ at her mother even though she knew that that wouldn't do any good.

She had only been two years old then, and it was easier to say that she loved her mother. But then weeks turned into months, and she could no longer give a simple answer as to how she felt about Sandstorm. Respect had slowly turned into bitterness and love became anger.

It had been as if she had suddenly turned invisible to Sandstorm. Sandstorm would always mope around the house with those blank eyes of hers and whenever Yerba would try to talk to her, Sandstorm would either continue on with whatever she was doing or she'd only say a few words before continuing to act as though her own daughter didn't exist.

Of course, Yerba did consider the possibility that she was being too unfair to her mother. Sandstorm had her reasons to shut down during those years. After Yerba's father left, it seemed as if bad things just continued to happen to her. First Sandstorm's father died, and then Sandstorm had to give away her beloved treasure collection (including a necklace from her mother) in order to sustain herself and Yerba, then she lost her mother. And with the stress of taking care of Yerba, Yerba supposed that her mother just kept spiraling down and down until she hit rock bottom.

But _still_...it made Yerba feel as if she didn't even matter anymore to her mother. And she still had a hard time believing that she mattered to Sandstorm _now_ , after so many years of being treated as if she didn't exist.

Stormseeker narrowed his eyes. "So what did _you_ do?" he asked Yerba.

"Me? I did all that I could to support myself and my mother," Yerba said. Even if Sandstorm neglected her, it wasn't as if Yerba could just ignore her as well. "I went around and did some small jobs for others, taught myself how to hunt, and if things really called for it, I stole."

His snout scrunched up. "You resorted to _stealing_?" he asked. From the look on his face and the tone in his voice, Yerba assumed that he wasn't impressed with what she did.

She gave him a strained smile. "I had to do what I could," she said. "Especially when there are dragonets who are willing to fight you for a multitude of reasons. Or, well, really, I was the only dragonet doing the fighting." Not receiving any attention from her mother had caused her to be quite the... _angry_ dragonet, although now she's trying to have a better attitude.

"I assume you were a very aggressive dragon back then?" Stormseeker asked her. Yerba felt a slight floaty feeling in her chest as she saw him faintly smile at her.

Yerba laughed. "Ha, yeah," she said. "My hot temper got me into a _lot_ of trouble back then. But you know what? It's fine now. I've got my temper under control, trust me."

"I'll take your word for it," Stormseeker shrugged. The smile on his face still remained.

"So yeah. Not a lot of friends back when I was younger," Yerba said. She chuckled and added, "But I've been just fine."

Then Stormseeker's smile faded. He grimaced and he laid back down, looking away from her. "I wish that I could've handled things as well as you did," he murmured.

The SandWing frowned at him. "Hey...I'm sure that you're still doing just fine," she told him. After all, he was still alive, right? He was here at Jade Mountain Academy now, and he has other dragons here to support him.

"It's not that," Stormseeker sighed. "It's just that I wonder what things I could've done differently back then. What if I didn't run away? What if I helped Starflinger the moment that I noticed that he was changing?" he asked. His talons quivered. "There are a lot of things that I could've done differently, Yerba. I just wish that I was brave enough to do them instead of just running away."

Yerba stood silent. She couldn't say anything like " _If I was in your place"_ or anything like that. She knew that there were too many differences between her and Stormseeker to really say anything like that. That and their situations had been so vastly different.

"Well…" Yerba began, "there's really nothing you can do to change that now, huh?"

"I know," Stormseeker grumbled. He turned onto his side and his back was now facing to her. "I just wish that there was some way for me to fix my mistakes and make everything perfect, just like how it used to be."

"Oh…" Yerba said. She thought quietly about what to say to him.

"It might as well have been my mistakes that caused everything to go wrong for me," Stormseeker sighed. "I had a family who I loved and a brother who cared about me. I knew my place in life, but now I just…have so little of what I used to." He curled in a little bit more. "Whatever little things that I have now is because of my face as Stormseeker. If I take off this armband, if I let myself be Shadehunter again, will I still have them? Will I still get to keep everything that I had as Stormseeker?"

"Of course you will!" she answered quickly. "You made _friends_ here. You've forged _friendships_. And those are things that aren't very easy to get rid of, no matter what kind of face you wear."

"I want to believe that," Stormseeker said. "But what if I end up doing something to ruin _that_ , too? How do I amend _that?"_

"You can't," Yerba responded. "We can't go back in time, no matter how much we want to. But...it's not good to feel this much regret over it."

"But haven't _you_ made mistakes?" Stormseeker inquired. "Mistakes that you regret?"

"Of course I have," Yerba replied. She could name at least six off the top of her head, and none were very pretty memories for her. "Everyone makes mistakes that they regret, Stormseeker. You're going to make mistakes that you can't fix, and it's going to hurt. And sometimes, it never really stops hurting.

"I'm not proud about what happened, but my mistake's already been made. If I can't go back in time and prevent it from ever happening, then why should I just drag myself around over something that I can't change?" she asked. "Why should I focus on something that I _can't_ do when I can focus on things that I _can_? At this point, the best thing you can do is pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep going. You can't fix what happened, but you'll always have the chance to learn from your mistakes and look toward the future instead of staying stuck in the past."

Then both dragons fell silent. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an eternity. Yerba found herself wondering if she said something wrong, but relief came to her as Stormseeker sat up and turned his head to glance at her.

"I'll...be sure to keep that in mind," Stormseeker said. He didn't sound dismissive of it or angry about it at all. In fact, what he said sounded very... _genuine_. And that was something that caused light bubbles to form in Yerba's chest. "But I'll still be...scared, I guess. Of what's going to come."

"Everyone's afraid of something, so that's fair," said Yerba.

"What are _you_ afraid of?" Stormseeker asked her. "If you're okay with answering, that is."

Yerba already knew what her answer was going to be. It had been how she felt when she learned that her father left the family before she even hatched, leaving her to wonder if there had already been something so terribly wrong with her to cause him to leave. It had been how she _always_ felt from the moment her mother started to neglect her.

"I'm afraid of being abandoned," she confessed. "I'm scared to feel left behind by anyone that I care about."

Stormseeker was quiet for a moment before Yerba suddenly found Stormseeker's snout close to hers. "That makes two of us," Stormseeker said. "Feeling left behind isn't the greatest feeling in the world."

Yerba smiled. "I know," she said. "Should I be concerned? That _I_ could relate to _you_ , Mister Dark and Mysterious, of all dragons?"

Stormseeker quietly laughed. "I could say the same to you, Miss Sunshine," he said wryly. "But clearly we aren't seeing each other as we are on the surface, are we?"

"I don't know," Yerba said, a small grin crossing her face. She just couldn't pass up this chance. "You still seem kind of _shady_."

"Aaaand you ruined it," said Stormseeker with a snort as he laid back down again.

"Hey, my jokes are _awesome_ ," Yerba said amusedly. "You just need to get used to them, that's all."

"Nope, nope," Stormseeker said, covering his ears. "I can't hear you."

Yerba chuckled. "One day, Stormseeker," she said. "One day we'll be friends for long enough for you to appreciate my sense of humor." _And today's the start._


	17. Chapter Twelve

The day after they found out Shadehunter, Robin and Yerba were ready to put in their request to spar. Robin spent yesterday feeling nervous and anxious about asking the teachers to allow them to start training.

Really, he had been worried about the possibility that they might get suspicious. Yerba let him feel worried that day, but now she insisted that they had to go today. "The sooner the better," she had said.

"Hello?" said Robin as they walked into the staff cave during lunch time.

Professor Singe was the only one in the cave. She lifted her head from a scroll and saw Robin and Yerba. "Oh, hello," she said as she rolled up the scroll and set it down on the table in front of her. She eyed them with curiosity. "Was there anything you wanted?"

"Well—" Robin started.

"Ol' Robin here just wanted permission to spar with me!" Yerba said with a wide smile. She nudged his shoulder and Robin gave Professor Singe a nervous smile.

Singe raised her brows. "Really?" she asked. "And where did this sudden interest come from?"

"Well…I mean, we just thought that, well—" Robin said, stumbling over his words for an answer.

Thankfully, Yerba apparently already had a prepared response.

"School fights happen sometimes," she said with a shrug. "I just thought that Robin might want some training just in case someone tries to pick a fight with him."

"Yes," Robin said quickly. "So, er, if we're allowed to spar together, that would be great. Even if it's just a temporary deal and we have to stop our sessions after a certain point in time or something. Just having a chance to learn how to fight would be okay. I guess. I mean, yes, that would be preferred." He lowered his gaze to his talons and shifted his feet slightly,

"Hmm," said Singe thoughtfully. "I'll have to discuss this with the other teachers once they come back."

 _From what? Are they doing anything? Liiiiiike...maybe about dragons who are dangerous to the school?_ Robin wondered.

"That's fair!" Yerba said cheerfully. "Thanks for taking our request into consideration, by the way. If you agree then we promise that we'll be _really_ careful to not cause any damage."

"I better hope so," Singe said with a snort. She looked at Yerba and frowned. "We received a report that you received injuries two nights ago. Would you care to explain those injuries to me?"

"I just went out on a walk and tripped over a few things," Yerba shrugged. "No biggie."

Singe hardly looked convinced, but she shrugged. "Alright," she said. "Just don't go making any 'mistakes' like that anymore."

Robin had the itching feeling that Singe knew that more than what Yerba told her had happened, but then Yerba said, "Sure thing, professor! Hopefully you all agree to let Robin here learn how to defend himself." And with that, Yerba herded Robin out of the cave.

"That went pretty well, huh?" Yerba asked Robin as they departed from the cave.

"Well...sure?" Robin replied. He couldn't shake off the feeling that Singe was suspecting more than she was letting on. "I guess it didn't go as badly as I thought it would."

"Great!" Yerba said. "Now let's head back to the others and get something to eat. We still have plenty of time left to get a meal."

Robin followed Yerba into the prey center where they quickly found Eis, Stormseeker, and Dolphin. Eis had just finished up a squirrel while Stormseeker had been picking at a small goat, only looking up when the two dragons approached.

The prey center was just as loud as ever, with dragons talking and laughing all around them, although Robin supposed that that meant that it would be harder for them to overhear the conversation between him and his friends. Even if the noise _was_ grating.

"Hey, guys!" Dolphin said as he saw them. "It's about time you got here! I saved a few things for you." He pushed a couple of squirrels toward them.

"Thanks, Dolphin!" Yerba said as she took one of the squirrels and started eating it.

"Yeah. Thanks for not getting me a fish," Robin said. He only had fish once before and that experience was enough to repulse him away from fish forever. In fact, just _touching_ a fresh fish was enough to turn him off from it, and the taste of it was just horrible and undoubtedly _slimy_. He had spit out the whole thing before he even swallowed it, and from then on he swore to never have any fish again.

"Hey, fish isn't _that_ bad," Dolphin whined.

"It's not the _worst_ , but it's _not_ that great either," Eis snorted.

"I would agree here," said Stormseeker.

Dolphin huffed.

"Anyway," said Stormseeker. He looked around at the others and lowered his voice. "Thank you for keeping the... _secret_ for me."

"It's the least we could do," Eis said. "Although _I_ wouldn't have kept it a secret from my partners."

"Thank you _so_ much for your understanding," said Stormseeker.

Eis sighed. "Okay, okay, we could've done without that comment," she said.

"Thank you so much for your understanding," Stormseeker repeated.

Robin was pretty sure that the first time Stormseeker said it was sarcastic and the second time was a little bit more sincere, although by now he felt as if he couldn't bother with trying to catch on to sarcasm.

"But, still—" said Eis.

"Okay," Yerba cut in. "What's going to be the plan?"

"We're hoping to do some investigating tomorrow night," Dolphin said. "Maybe we'll run into those bad dragons again but this time we could...you know. Turn them in?"

Yerba looked at Dolphin with a hesitant expression. "No offense, Dolphin, but you're a horrible fighter," she said.

Dolphin shifted his talons. "Okay, well, I wouldn't _need_ to fight them."

"But you might have to," Eis pointed out. "I think that _I_ could survive in a fight against them, though. I've been training since I hatched."

"So, Dolphin, listen," said Yerba. "Maybe I could offer you some training, too. I'm sure the professors won't mind if you wanted to spar as well."

"Oh, no, I'm fine, I don't need any," Dolphin insisted.

"Are you sure?" Stormseeker asked Dolphin.

"Absolutely!" Dolphin said.

Robin wasn't quite convinced. He knew that Dolphin wasn't the most suave or graceful dragon around, and he wasn't sure why Dolphin was refusing something that could probably benefit him.

"Fine, fine, but if you ever change your mind, then you can always come ask me," Yerba said.

"Yeah," Dolphin said, waving one claw dismissively at her. "But I think the dragon you _really_ need to worry about is Stormseeker here."

Stormseeker narrowed his eyes. "I'll be fine," he assured them.

Robin was doubtful of it. He worried for Stormseeker now that he knew that it was exactly Stormseeker that their enemies were looking for. _What if they get their claws on him? What could he do to escape them, if he could do anything at all? What do they plan to do to him if they catch him?_

 _They're not going to_ kill _him, are they?_

That was perhaps the most likely option. An animus dragon could very well threaten their plans, but Robin had never seen Stormseeker use his animus magic before. Robin wondered if Stormseeker had sworn to never use his powers, or at least use them as little as possible.

 _When was the last time he used his power? Did he stop with changing himself into Stormseeker? When did he leave? He said that Starflinger used to be kind. What caused Starflinger to change? They mentioned a dragonet named Rafflesia. Who's she? Didn't those bad dragons also say that they stole eggs? How did they get away with it? How many eggs have they stolen already? Just how big is their army?_

 _What are they planning?_

Robin started to tap his claws on the ground and his tail shook slightly as he flattened his ears to his head. It was almost as if the noise in the prey center had amplified ten times and that he was now being pulled out of the conversation.

"Robin? Are you alright?" Dolphin asked in concern, reaching out toward Robin.

Robin pulled away from Dolphin's talon. "I don't want to be here right now," he said.

 _There's so many questions that we need to solve, but I don't know where we could start. And why are there SO MANY NEW MYSTERIES POPPING UP?_

It was almost as if every time Robin tried to find more answers, he ended up finding more questions instead. He didn't understand why anything couldn't be as simple as fairy tales. _Something bad happens! And then the bad guy announces themselves! And then the good guys stop the bad guys and save the day! Why can't it be that simple? Why does this have to be so complicated?_

Robin knew he was probably being unreasonable. He knew that real life probably wouldn't be so transparent and flat as the stories would lead dragonets to believe. But now thinking about those stories frustrated him.

"Robin, what's wrong?" Yerba asked him in a low voice. She stepped a little bit closer to him. "You could tell us, you know."

"I don't know," Robin said. "I just—my words—arrrrgh, they're not coming out right."

"You should head back to your cave," Eis suggested, standing up. She looked down her nose at him. "Come on. I'll take you there."

"No, no, I'm fine, I—I don't know, I—" Robin stammered, but Eis was already walking away.

"You should follow her," Stormseeker said without meeting his eyes. "It seems as if being in a more isolated area could do you some good right now so you could clear your thoughts."

Seeing no choice but to follow her, Robin got up and trailed after Eis. They walked together out of the prey center, and Robin started to feel more at ease as the noise of the prey center slipped away.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Eis asked Robin, narrowing her eyes at him. "You didn't look like you were fine back there."

"I-I know," Robin said. He looked down at the ground as he walked beside her. "It was just something...like, just really, _really_ FRUSTRATING to think about. I don't know how to say it, but it's just...I have no idea, okay? I'm probably just being irrational, I'm sorry."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Eis said. "Okay, I'm probably going to be really bad at comforting—"

"No offense, but I wish I doubted that more."

"Thank you," said Eis with a snort.

"I mean, I'm not trying to say that you're a _bad_ dragon, but, well, really, it's just that you don't seem like the _nicest_ dragon around, if you get what I'm saying. But don't get me wrong! You're still a good dragon at heart and I know that you're probably trying your best to be nicer, but—"

" _Thank you_ ," Eis repeated firmly. "Let me _talk_ , okay?"

"Alright," Robin said with a small sigh. He didn't move his eyes to meet hers, and he wondered if Eis was expecting him to make eye contact as they walked. If she did, then she didn't say anything about it. Robin just watched the way his talons moved as they carried him forward, one after the other.

"Good," said Eis. There was a moment of silence from her before she said, "I think I get why you're frustrated. It's about the whole... _thing_...with the other dragons, isn't it?"

Robin nodded.

"I guessed so," Eis said. "Alright, I get it. I'm pretty _frustrated_ with it as well, believe me."

"Yeah, I thought you would be," Robin said. He still remembered the way Eis had voiced her anger toward him, and even though he knew that Eis was right to be mad and call him out for not spending as much time on investigating as he should have, it still hurt to think about the words she said.

 _But we're doing better now,_ Robin thought. He was certain that they were.

Eis rolled her eyes. "The point is is that I made a promise to you that I would try to be nice to you," she said. "So I will be. Look, I just want you to know that if there's anything bothering you, or if there's anything that just feels really weird, then you can come to me about it."

"Soooo...you can give me advice about the problem?" Robin asked.

Eis scrunched her snout. "Maybe not _all_ the time," she said. "At the very least, we can both complain about the problem together."

Robin laughed. "Complain about something with you? That sounds like fun."

"More fun than most dragons would think it would be, I'm sure," Eis snorted with a small smile.

"I think doing most things with you would be fun," Robin said.

Eis' ears flicked and she stared at him, her smile falling. "Really?" she asked. "Why?"

"Well...you're my friend," Robin said. He suddenly started to feel a little bit nervous again. "And doing anything with your friends would always be fun, right?"

Eis gave him a thoughtful look, and then the smile appeared on her face again. "I guess you're right," she said. "But...okay, Robin, I guess I have some advice to give you right now."

"Let's hear it."

"Things are going to be difficult," Eis said. "Like you while you were goofing off instead of working."

"I was feeling fine. I was feeling _fine_ , Eis."

Eis rolled her eyes. "But the point is is that things are going to be _hard_ , and there's nothing you can do about it," she said. Suddenly she cast her dark blue gaze down to her talons. "The best thing you can do about it is to just accept it and work hard to achieve your goal."

"I just wish that real life was more of a fairy tale than this," Robin said.

"Fairy tales will never exist in real life," Eis said. "But if you want to focus on some _childish_ stories, then fine. Just...think of yourself as the protagonist. The hero's quest is never easy. And…"

Eis sighed. "And if there's a hero in this story, then it's you," she said. "It's you, and Yerba, and Dolphin, and Sha... _Stormseeker_."

"What about you?" Robin asked.

"I'm the poor character who has to play mother hen to make sure you don't all die," Eis said.

Robin giggled. "So you're the hero to the heroes?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, I am," Eis said. She slightly raised her nose a little bit higher into the air. "But I'm not complaining. I like showing off how absolutely _responsible_ and _mature_ I am. And besides, if I have to be stuck with a bunch of reckless dragons for friends, then you're not _totally_ useless friends to have."

"What about Muskrat and Cotinga?" Robin asked.

"I think they're both a bit busy with their own things," Eis said with a small shrug. "And besides, if we need to include them in our investigation, then they would need to catch us at a _suspiciously_ convenient time."

"Yerba and Dolphin weren't part of the investigation at first either," Robin pointed out. "We had to tell them."

"Only because _you_ wanted to," Eis said. "Although I suppose that I won't complain about it now." She frowned thoughtfully. "Although Cotinga might end up being useful. She's smart and hard-working."

Robin thought about the RainWing, and he felt guilt for not talking to Cotinga or Muskrat more. _Aunt Falcon told me to socialize more with other dragons,_ he thought. _And I'm pretty sure that she didn't mean talking to the same four or five dragons all the time._

Then they stopped outside of the cave.

"Here we are," Eis said as Robin padded into his cave. Robin let out a small sigh of relief as he went inside. He'd take a small, quiet cave over the prey center any day.

"Thanks, Eis," Robin said as he sat down on his rock ledge. He pulled the tip of his cape toward him and he let out a deep breath as he started to fiddle with it with his claws, comforted by the soft fabric. Soon enough, the last negative feelings evaporated.

"You're welcome," she said with a small nod.

 _I'm glad she's my friend now,_ Robin thought as he watched Eis turn and leave. He could guess that she would still be sometimes difficult in the future, but he was just glad that now they were partners. They were working together well, and that was what mattered in their relationship.

In fact, he was glad that Dolphin, Stormseeker, and Yerba were all his friends now. _Well..._ maybe _Stormseeker,_ Robin thought. He still didn't know how Stormseeker felt about him. _Or should I start calling him Shadehunter in my head now?_

 _Arrgh, you could figure that out later,_ he told himself. _Right now you have more important things to deal with, like his brother._

Robin knew that this whole mission wasn't over yet until they stopped the villains and saved the innocents. _And that's why I'm learning how to fight,_ he thought. _That's why I'm going to train with Yerba so I can defend myself and others._

He cast a glance toward the opening of the cave. _And that's why_ we're _not going to tell the teachers._

They knew that Runesearcher, Singe, and Clam knew _something_. Something about who their enemies were targeting, something about where their enemies were, something about what their enemies were _planning_.

Robin understood that talking to them about the whole scheme could possibly be beneficial. There was always a chance that the teachers might end up helping them instead, and with their combined knowledge and efforts, everything would be so much easier.

 _It's a bit of a small chance, though._ He was pretty sure that the teachers wouldn't let a bunch of dragonets help them, even if Robin and his friends did know something crucial about their situation. It would be more likely that they would be expelled so they don't get in the way.

 _So I guess that if we want to get some more information out of_ them, _we'd have to eavesdrop whenever we can,_ he thought. He winced as he thought about the consequences if they were ever caught.

 _This is so much harder than it should be._ And then Robin remembered Eis' words. _Okay, okay, this is_ really _hard. But you just need to suck it up and keep trying,_ he told himself. _It's not going to become any easier if you give up._

He rested his head on his talons. _You'll just have to deal with it for now._

* * *

The rest of the day passed quite normally. Class started and went by so quickly that Robin felt as if only a few seconds had passed. He still couldn't quite believe that actual _time_ had passed by the time that it was time to go to sleep.

He laid down there on his rock ledge. Yerba, Dolphin, and Stormseeker had already went to sleep. Robin had so many thoughts coursing through his mind that kept him awake. His eyelids were threatening to close, but he didn't want them to. Plus, he could hear very faint voices that didn't seem to come from anywhere around him at all.

" _We...know…-sser…-da…"_

" _She's...at…"_

" _We…need…"_

The voices seemed to be everywhere yet nowhere at all at the same time. Robin strained his ears in order to hear it better, but then his eyelids began to grow heavy. Then, before he knew it, he was asleep.

Robin woke back up in the blue forest. It seemed just as mystical as it had been before, with the blue-green grass still covering much of the dirt floor. The dark brown trees and their beautiful green leaves and twisting branches were still around. Squirrels and rabbits scuttled around him and birds tweeted from the branches of the trees.

A dirt path started from his talons then traveled ahead before taking a sharp turn to the left. He blinked, wondering where the dirt path would take him.

He looked back down at his talons and he realized that once again, they were the same white-light pink that they were the last time that he was in this forest. He lifted one of his gray claws to inspect it. Why did he look like this?

 _I should go look at my reflection,_ he decided. Robin looked at the dirt path and then followed it. He was hoping to see some kind of body of water to take a look at his reflection in. So he was glad when he found a small pond to take a look at.

He put his head over the pond and he realized with a shock that his reflection looked nothing like him. It was clear that he was a female dragonet this time. His face was the same pinkish white that his claws had been and there were small, yet odd dark red teardrop markings lining the space beneath his eyes. His eyes, however, were the most startling part.

Robin knew that he was still a SkyWing. But his eyes were an ominous shade of pale green. His eyes were still green, even when he was a different dragon. Lighter, but still _green_.

As soon as he met his eyes in the reflection, Robin felt many feelings surge through him at once. There were feelings of anger, sadness, loneliness, and doubt. But most of all, there was _ambition_. His ambitions and dreams to become a hero were still there, but somehow it felt...darker. It felt more like a poison to his mind than anything else.

And why was he feeling angry and sad? Robin didn't know, but those feelings were there and they burned so clearly within him along with his many desires.

He stared longer at the eyes before he finally looked away. The strange feelings disappeared as soon as he was no longer staring at the pale green eyes of the unfamiliar dragon.

Before Robin could have much time to think about it, he saw a glowing red light hovering a couple of feet above the dirt path. _When did that get here?_ he wondered in surprise.

It glowed a violent red color. Sparks flew from its crimson body, urging Robin to follow it. As he came closer to the light, it faded away in red smoke. Then another one appeared and Robin went after that one, but it disappeared just like the last one.

One light after another, Robin followed the path. He heard voices speaking into his ear with every light that faded.

" _I don't_ care _about how long it may take you. I want you to go to the school, get your target, and send our message to the world."_

" _Of course, boss. I'll make sure that we succeed."_

" _But do we_ have _to be in a group?"_

" _It's better to work together than alone."_

Robin was so sure that at least _two_ of the voices sounded familiar. One male, one female. He couldn't name anyone who sounded like that off the top of his head, but he _knew_ that he could recognize those voices somewhere.

The smell of rotting reached his nostrils. Robin forced himself not to shy away from the smell. There was something in his mind that told him that this was something that he wanted. That he _wanted_ to smell this.

The trail of lights stopped at a group of bushes. At this point, the rotting scent was unbearable and it was thick in the air. He felt a twinge of satisfaction as he saw a white form beneath the cover of the bushes.

Then he woke up.

Robin sat up slowly, thinking about what he had just seen. His claws itched to leave the cave and head to the forest yet again. But why? He had little reason to go to the forest. But the urge in his chest forced him to get up and head outside of the darkened cave.

He thought curiously about the dream that he had. Why was he a different dragon in that dream? _Who_ was he in that dream? Robin didn't understand what his dream meant, but he knew that it leads to _something_. He knew that it was leading him some _where_.

He was only halfway through the corridor when Cotinga suddenly appeared from the corner. He jumped back as he saw her and Cotinga's scales burst into colors of lily green, white, pale blue, and purple.

"Robin!" Cotinga said loudly with shock. She flared her ruff and then soon her body eased and her scales turned back to their usual shade of dark pink. "What...what are _you_ doing here?" she asked in a quieter voice.

"I was only going out...for a walk," Robin replied. "What are _you_ doing here?" He certainly didn't expect Cotinga to be out this late at night and he definitely wanted to know _why_ she was out here.

"I was going for late night studying," Cotinga murmured. "At the library. I was just about to head back to my own cave. You know what? Never mind. You go on your way and I'll go on mine."

Before Robin could respond, Cotinga stomped past him. He stared at her until she disappeared as she disappeared into a cave, and then he turned back and continued on his way. _That was weird,_ Robin thought.

He found himself wondering if Cotinga was telling the truth. He didn't want to go and pester her with more questions of his own. That would be indecent of him and he didn't want to seem like a bad dragon. But still, the suspicion that Cotinga wasn't telling the truth still remained in him.

 _Time to add one more mystery to the list,_ Robin thought. Annoyance rose up in him yet again.

But he decided to ignore it for now. Robin had to focus on his own destination. He might end up asking Cotinga questions at a more appropriate time once he figured out a way to properly word the questions so that he didn't seem too nosy. Nosy was perhaps one of the last things that he wanted to come off as.

 _And she's part of my winglet, too. I need to talk to her and become friends with her as well. And Muskrat, too. Maybe I could get them to help, too. More help would be nice._

 _Now stop thinking about that and_ focus _,_ Robin thought sternly to himself. He put his thoughts about Cotinga to the side and made his way out of the academy and then began flying toward the forest.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the forest. The rotting scent reached him again and bile rose up in his throat this time. But there was still something in the back of his mind whispering that this was _exactly_ what he had desired.

His heart dropped as he understood what he was about to see. His stomach tingled with so much anxiety that he felt as if he was about to burst. The shape that he had seen in his dream wasn't clear to him, but he had a feeling that he knew _exactly_ what it was and that it had something to do with him. But that couldn't be the case, right?

He trekked deeper into the forest, where a group of bushes was lying in wait for him. He recognized the group from his dream, but perhaps that was only a coincidence.

However, the moment that he recognized the smell growing stronger, he knew that he was wrong. Swallowing back his nervousness, he looked underneath the cover of the bushes, preparing himself for whatever he could find there.

What he saw was the body of a RainWing. Robin thought at first that his scales were white with black and dark gray markings, but as he looked closer he realized that the RainWing's scales were just _white_. The dark markings on his body were scorch marks.

Blood spilled out of the RainWing's throat and dripped onto the ground, staining the green grass and brown dirt. A deep, large gash had been made across his throat and his eyes seemed to emptily stare into an endless space.

Robin took a step back. He couldn't seem to put his thoughts into words. His mind just went _numb_ as he tried to process the sight in front of him.

If this was one thing that his dream showed him…

What else would he see?


	18. Chapter Thirteen

"What were you doing out so late?" Runesearcher demanded.

Robin had flown back to the school and screamed that there was the dead body of a RainWing in the forest. He was sure that he had awoken the entire school, and soon enough Roadrunner, Professor Clam, and Professor Singe went to investigate the body, Dovekie tried to calm down the gathered crowd of students, and Runesearcher took Robin into the staff cave to question him.

A single torch mounted on the wall lit the staff cave, and Robin saw several scroll racks lined up against the wall. There was a circular dark brown table in the center of the cave as well, but otherwise it was barely decorated. Although the nearly bare room did somewhat make Robin nervous as he sat across Professor Runesearcher.

"Well…" Robin said. He fiddled with the fabric of his cape and shook his tail from side to side ever so slightly. "I don't...it was...I…was out. For a walk. To clear my mind."

"Clear your mind of _what_?" Runesearcher asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Of...a dream that I had," Robin answered. At least the whole part about the dream was true. "It was weird, and I just wanted to—to think about it for a while." He lowered his head.

"How did you know where the body was?" said Runesearcher.

 _Wait...does he think that_ I _did it?_ Robin wondered in alarm. _But I didn't! Wait,_ he _doesn't know that. Should I tell him that I didn't do it? What if it only makes him more suspicious? Or worse,_ certain _? What do I tell him?_

"It, well, it wasn't _that_ well-hidden," Robin said hastily. "And the smell was strong, too, a-and I noticed a weird shape in the bushes. I just needed to investigate it, that's all." He turned his head away from Runesearcher, avoiding the NightWing's piercing gaze.

"Hmmm…" Runesearcher said. "Have you, by any chance, seen anyone else while you were out?"

Robin slowly turned his head back around to peer at him curiously. "Well...yes," Robin said, forcing his body to ease. "It was only Cotinga, though."

 _Only Cotinga._ Only _Cotinga,_ Robin echoed. _That...doesn't comfort me at all._

 _What_ was _she doing out so late?_

The light in Runesearcher's eyes seemed to flicker for a moment and he leaned in toward Robin. "Cotinga?" he asked. "Are you sure?"

Robin nodded. "Yes, Professor," he said. "I'm sure. I-I don't know what she was doing, but she was out there, and she was doing _something_."

 _Could it be_ her _?_ Robin wondered. Cotinga didn't particularly strike him as a dangerous dragon. _But she did seem..._ weird _when I talked to her. She was certainly eager to get the conversation over with._

Robin hesitated before he asked, "Professor Runesearcher, what are you going to do with Cotinga?"

"I'll bring her in for questioning as well," Runesearcher replied, sitting back. "Her reason why she was out might have nothing to do with the body, but it's worth a try."

"And what about me?" Robin asked. "Is questioning over? Will I be punished?"

"You left school grounds without permission or supervision," Runesearcher said, and his eyes narrowed. "You might as well have _just_ avoided the murderer right when you arrived."

Robin shuddered as the thought of it sunk in. If Robin really did miss the RainWing's killer just moments before he discovered the body, then two bodies could have been found tonight.

"As a result, you will not be allowed outside of your cave after all students are sent to sleep," Runesearcher said. "And you will have to assist any one of the staff members at least once a day for whatever they need you to do. This punishment will last for about a week and a half, understood?"

Robin nodded. "Of course," he promised. But he still felt his heart sink as he realized that if he wanted to listen to Professor Runesearcher then he wouldn't help his friends investigate after school hours.

"However, considering the request to spar with Yerba in order to teach yourself how to defend yourself," Runesearcher said, "we have accepted the request and you can start training with her tomorrow during prey center hours. After this event, I understand that it'll be best for you to know what to do in case you come across a dragon who means to do you any harm."

That was definitely better news. Robin lit up. "Thank you, Professor!" he said. "I promise that we absolutely will not harm each other or cause damage to our environment."

"Please inform Yerba as soon as you can," Runesearcher said.

"Of course," Robin nodded.

Just then, Roadrunner entered the cave. "Runesearcher," he said. "Singe and Clam took the body to the school. They took it somewhere to keep until someone could step up and claim a relationship to him so they could bury his body." Roadrunner frowned. "But if no one picks it up by the next week, then we'll bury it ourselves."

"Did you identify him?" Runesearcher asked.

Roadrunner shook his head. "He was too young to be a member of staff, but he certainly wasn't a student," Roadrunner said. "We counted all of the RainWing students we had and all of them were accounted for, but none of them knew who it was."

Robin slightly raised his ears. _A mysterious murderer and a mysterious victim,_ he thought. That certainly made it harder. From the stories he read, Robin knew that knowing the victim's identity could help narrow down the list of suspects to dragons the victim knew.

 _But if he wasn't a student, then what was he doing here on school grounds?_ Robin thought. Robin knew that the RainWing wasn't part of the group of villains he and Gale met that night, or else he would've seen him. _Unless he was off somewhere else, doing_ something _else._

Runesearcher frowned. "Was Dovekie successful in calming the students?" he asked.

"She managed to get them to go back to their caves, but I know that the students won't relax just yet," said Roadrunner.

Runesearcher sighed and his forehead scrunched up as if he had a headache. He rubbed his head with one of his talons. "At least none of the students were harmed," he said. "But this will be a difficult situation to deal with."

"You'll succeed, I'm sure," Roadrunner said coolly. He looked at Robin. "It must've been jarring to be the one to find the body."

Robin nodded silently.

"You should go back to your cave," Roadrunner suggested kindly. "Get as much rest as you can. Rest your mind. But in case you wanted to know, there were four dragons who needed to see you, and they said that they would be waiting outside your cave. Your friends, I believe. They seemed pretty worried about you."

"Thank you. I-I'll go now," Robin said, and then he hurried out of the cave. _I need to tell them about this._

He soon saw them right outside of his cave, and he quickened his pace to reach them.

"Robin!" Eis exclaimed as she saw him. "Robin, what were you _doing_? You head out at night without us and you find a _dead body_? Just _what_ was going through your mind? What if you died?"

"Eis, calm down," Stormseeker said, giving her a stern look. He looked toward Robin. "Tell us everything that happened."

"Okay, listen, listen," Robin said. And then he started to describe the events that happened to him, right from the dream to when Runesearcher took him in for questioning.

"You saw Cotinga?" Dolphin asked, startled. "What—what was she doing?"

"That's what _I'm_ trying to figure out!" Robin exclaimed.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," said Yerba. She coiled her tail in a little bit more inward with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I didn't think that Cotinga would seem as _suspicious_ as she does now. But we can't judge anything until we've seen more evidence, got it?"

"Even though _I_ believe it's fairly obvious that the ones who did it are those criminals you fought that night," Eis said to Yerba. "But yes, evidence would certainly be nice."

"Oh. About evidence, I, uh...Professor Runesearcher kind of told me that I can't go out of the cave after academy hours," said Robin, shuffling his talons. "So, um...if you guys want to investigate with me, then we might have to arrange it earlier. But I'm sure you guys don't need me."

"What?" Dolphin frowned. "Robin, of course we're going to need you. If anything, you guys don't need _me_."

"We need you _both_ ," Yerba said firmly, glaring at them. Dolphin, however, still looked skeptical.

"We needed your help since the beginning," Stormseeker said. "I don't understand why this arrangement needs to change."

"But if you _really_ want to stop, then fine," Eis said with a huff. "I understand that it's dangerous."

"No, no, of course I don't want to stop," Robin said quickly. "I want to be able to _help_ dragons, and I won't be able to do that if I stop. Oh! And I can learn how to defend myself now, too. Runesearcher said that I could spar with Yerba now and teach myself how to fight."

"Really? That's great!" Yerba cheered. A wide smile grew on her face. "I'm excited to start!"

Here, Eis gave him an approving look. _I won't give up, Eis,_ Robin promised her silently. _I won't give up as long as there are still innocent dragons in danger._

"You know, my offer's still up," Yerba reminded Dolphin as she glanced at him. "You could train with me and Robin, too."

"I'm fine, I don't want to. But I won't give up on this whole thing either," said Dolphin, but he frowned deeper. Robin wondered what was going on through the SeaWing's mind.

"Good," said Eis. She let out a small hum. "I'll need to write a letter to my parents about this. I'm sure they'd want to know what's happening. Ugh...and I might need to write a letter to my sister, too."

Yerba nodded. "That's fair enough," she said. And then she paused. "You have a _sister_? How come you never mentioned her before?"

Robin thought about Eis having a sister. He didn't remember Eis mentioning her sister before in a conversation.

"Either you really don't inform yourself about the royal families of other tribes or you're joking," Eis said drily. "And both possibilities sound very plausible. But that's not the topic right now. Stay _focused,_ will you?"

"Eis is right," said Stormseeker. "We shouldn't discuss her sister when we should focus on the task at hand."

"Thank you, Stormseeker," Eis said. "Now, as I was saying—"

"Hey, we heard all about what went down," Emerald suddenly interjected.

Eis stopped and she let out a low growl while Yerba's eyes lit up as she saw Emerald and Coldfront. "Hey, Em!" Yerba said. "I thought Dovekie already sent all the students back to their caves."

"We were just curious," Coldfront said with a roll of eyes. "Well, Emerald was. I just wanted to go to sleep."

Emerald rolled her eyes as well. "You'll get your chance later, I promise," she said. "So, what do you guys know all about it? Robin, you were the one who found the body first, didn't you? Tell me all the details!"

Robin winced. Emerald definitely sounded far too excited to hear about a dead body. And he didn't want to talk about it with her or Coldfront anyway. He only wanted to share the details with his friends, and that was it. And he didn't really feel like he knew Emerald or Coldfront well enough to share anything with them.

He felt a little bit guilty for not wanting to talk about it with them, though. They were nice, really. _Well,_ Emerald _is nice,_ Robin thought. Coldfront still intimidated him.

"Slow down," Dolphin said. He drew himself up to a straighter posture that radiated more confidence than Dolphin usually did. "Robin is still trying to deal with the effects of finding a _dead body_. Leave him alone about this until he's ready, alright?"

Although Robin was grateful for Dolphin's help, he couldn't help but frown at how quickly Dolphin tried to look more confident than he actually was. _Just a few moments ago he was saying that we don't need him._

"Aww, I guess I have to hold back my curiosity for now," Emerald sighed.

"I'm sure she _completely_ understands, though," Coldfront said, narrowing his eyes at Emerald.

"Hey, I am an absolutely compassionate dragon who would _never_ push someone's boundaries," Emerald protested, but a hint of amusement glinted in her eyes. "Can't you just believe in me, Coldfront?"

For the first time, Robin could see Coldfront smile, although it was a very faint one. "You know I can't let you get away with anything just because I believe in you," he said.

"I never said you _had_ to let me get away with _every_ thing, at least," Emerald said.

Eis sighed. "Breaking the rules," she said. "I'll never understand the appeal."

"It's a lot more fun than you might think it is, princess," Emerald said, shooting Eis a grin. "I'm sure Yerba knows, right?"

Yerba laughed. "You got that right," she said.

"Hey, _I_ know that it's fun, too!" Dolphin said. "I mean, I definitely look like someone who's brave enough to be a bad boy and break the rules. Right? Right?"

Stormseeker groaned and Eis rolled her eyes. "You know what, why don't we all go back to sleep now?" Eis suggested. "We can talk more tomorrow. For now, we have to rest up and get our energy."

"Good idea," Stormseeker agreed quickly. "I'm a bit tired right now."

"Alright," Yerba said. "We'll go ahead and rest up, and then we can talk more about this tomorrow. Except for Emerald and Coldfront. No offense."

"None taken," Coldfront said, although Emerald's wings drooped slightly.

"Sorry, Em," Yerba said with a sympathetic smile to the SeaWing. "Maybe next time. Anyway, does that plan sound good to anyone else?"

"Yep!" Dolphin said. "Sounds great to me!"

"It's our best option right now, I guess," Robin agreed.

"Perfect!" said Yerba. "I'll see you two later," she said to Emerald and Coldfront.

Emerald smiled and nodded, lifting her wings again. "Looking forward to it," she said, and then she and Coldfront left.

Robin soon found himself back in his cave with Stormseeker, Yerba, and Dolphin. He curled up on his rock ledge, going over the events of tonight. _I found a dead body...and then there was Cotinga, who was out for no discernable reason yet...Emerald seemed_ really _interested in what I had to say...I can't leave my cave during night…_

He blinked wearily. _And what was that dream all about? Why did it lead me to a body?_

Of all the nightmares Robin ever had over the course of his life, this was the first one to lead him to something, and it was certainly something he didn't want to see.

Eventually minutes dripped into hours, and even then Robin couldn't seem to get himself to sleep. He let out a sigh. _There's one thing I can do,_ he thought. _And that's checking on Dolphin._

"Dolphin?" Robin whispered. "Are you awake?"

There was a pause before Dolphin yawned and said, "Yeah? What is it?"

"Are you alright?" Robin asked him, lifting his head to look down at Dolphin's green shape curled up on the floor. Green eyes met blue as Dolphin raised his head to look at Robin.

"Of course I am," Dolphin said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well...you just seemed really quick to contradict yourself," Robin said. "You said that we wouldn't need you and then when Emerald and Coldfront came along, you tried to make yourself seem more... _confident_."

"I'm _absolutely_ confident," Dolphin said, lifting his chin. "I just—"

"Don't want to seem as if you aren't?" Robin finished. _What else should you say to him?_ he asked himself. _You probably should've thought this through before you started this conversation._

"Well, don't _you_ want to seem as if you have more self-esteem?" Dolphin asked Robin.

Robin raised a brow. "Why would I do that?" he asked. _Aunt Falcon always knew how i felt,_ he thought. He felt a wide pit of longing grow in his chest. _I should write a letter to her, too. She deserves to know what's going on._

"Oh come on, don't act like you've never done it at least _once_ in your life," Dolphin said in a low voice.

"Well...okay. So maybe I have," said Robin, lifting his wings slightly in a shrug. "But wouldn't it be better to let everyone know what you're feeling so that they could help you?"

"I have a habit of keeping myself miserable because of my self-hatred. Don't take that seriously, by the way," Dolphin said, and then he let out a small chuckle, although it didn't sound like a joke to Robin.

"I don't think you should hate yourself," Robin said, frowning sadly. "I think you're a great dragon."

"Really?" Dolphin asked. "Well, what's so great about me anyway?"

"You're...funny. And you're...loyal. And you're, um, nice," Robin said.

"You hesitated," Dolphin pointed out.

"But I still mean it," Robin promised hastily. He moved his tail a little bit to the left as he lowered his wings. "Okay, so maybe you're clumsy. Maybe you're more useless than the rest of us."

"Thank you."

"Wait, really? I—oh, no, that was—wow, sorry. I promise that there are still good things about you," Robin added quickly. He looked down. "You're helping us, and that counts for something. You want to _help_ dragons, and, well, I think that—that that's something to be admired."

"But—" Dolphin said.

"Just try to take my words to heart, okay?" Robin said. "You don't need to give me a great speech or argument or anything." He shifted his talons nervously. "I just wanted you to know that I appreciate everything that you're doing for us."

"Even if I'm not doing as much as you guys?" Dolphin asked, casting his eyes downward.

"Everything counts," Robin said. "Aunt Falcon told me to appreciate as much as I can, no matter how small it is."

 _Would Aunt Falcon be proud of what I'm doing?_ Robin wondered. His aunt should know that he wanted to do something great, and this might be just that one great thing he was always meant to do. If she could see him now, then what would she think about the way he was handling this situation?

And then Robin wondered if Aunt Falcon would rather have him stay out of it to keep himself out of harm's way. Those dragons Robin and Gale met that night had been aiming to _kill_ them, and he wasn't sure if he would even still be around if he didn't get lucky.

 _Unlike that poor RainWing._

"How do you think this is going to end?" Robin asked Dolphin curiously. Right now he wanted some encouragement. "I mean...do you think we'll succeed?"

"I hope so," Dolphin said, resting his head on his talons again. He yawned. "It'd certainly be amazing if we do."

"Yeah…" Robin said. He laid down his head and blinked tiredly. "We're going to do great, aren't we? No, wait. Of course we will. It's going to be hard, but we're going to do just _fine_. We'll save the world, right all the wrongs, and become the heroes of the academy."

"You're really optimistic," Dolphin remarked. "And pretty ambitious."

A weary smile came to Robin's face. "Someone has to be."

 _We couldn't save that RainWing, but we can save everyone else. We_ have _to,_ Robin thought. He remembered Cotinga prowling the halls at night, and made a mental note to himself. _And I'll also have to talk to Cotinga tomorrow and see what she was up to._

 _We can do this._

 _We can save everyone._

 _I hope we can._


End file.
